The Blaze
by guilty until proven innocent
Summary: Death Eaters attack Hogwarts. When three Gryffindors and a Slytherin manage to escape, problems arise quickly. When thrown together for survival, can trust and friendship blossom? And can forbidden romances flourish? DMHG [Pre HBP]
1. That's All

Extended Summary:_ Hogwarts is a safe haven, right? Wrong. It's under full attack, and sometimes you have to run in order to live. But you can't run from the past, and you certainly can't run too far without getting caught. Or so you think. Several students ran away and started their own secret society, called The Blaze. But in order for it to remain strong and secret, you have to have rules, limits, and regulations. And everyone must get along for it work. Can certain students stop being haunted by the past and look to the future? Is the future even worth waiting for? And above all, trust is more important than ever. Sometimes you have to trust people you'd really rather stay away from. But for the good of the cause, you'll have to pull through. But can they? That's the real question._

Keep In Mind: This fic is in different character's point of views. It'll say the name of the person before the story starts. Also, anything that happens in the 6th book will not affect anything in this fic, which takes place in the 7th year. That may change, though, but for now nothing in that book matters when you read this.

**That's All**

**Hermione Granger**

In our beds that night, Ginny Weasley told a particularly amusing story about Ron. Who _knew_ he was obsessed with Nathan Yoland from the Chuddly Cannons? I couldn't wait to torture him about his closet shrine!

We all laughed some more and finally drifted off to sleep. Several hours later, I awoke to a world that was burning down. "Hermione! Get up!" Lavender screamed.

I sat up and saw the fire. _Everything_ was covered in flames. "Where's Harry and Ron?" I yelled in a panic.

"We'll find them later, Hermione, come on!" Ginny pulled my arm out the door.

We ran together, passing hysterical student after hysterical student. Everyone was crying… no one knew what was going on. That's when I saw the death eaters. Men in cloaks terrorized us… killing anyone in site. Teachers fought hard, but I passed some professors in a crumpled heap on the floor. That's what made me lose it.

Tears poured out of my eyes and I was more afraid than ever. If these people could kill a teacher—someone who was supposed to protect us students—they were certainly capable of killing my friends and me.

All of a sudden, a beam of light shot towards Lavender, Ginny, and me. We screamed and ran in separate directions. I turned around to see Lavender on the ground—dead. I gave a hysterical cry and ran towards her. "No, Hermione, don't!" Ginny said through her tears. "Just let's get out of here, okay?"

I nodded and followed after her. I saw a death eater come close to us, and that was the last thing I saw.

To everyone that saw me on the ground, they probably thought I was dead. But somehow, I managed to end up in a _very_ dark cave. I tried to sit up but realized I was far too injured. I groaned in pain and landed back on the ground with a thud.

"You're awake?" I heard from the darkness.

"Who's there?" I demanded, my eyes not used to the darkness yet. I reached for my wand. "Lumos…"

"No! Granger, turn that off!" The voice hissed. No one called me 'Granger' except….

"_Malfoy_?" I asked with slight fear.

"Turn that light off, Granger, or someone will see it!" He warned.

I tried to get to my feet, but remembered the pain I was in.

"You're too weak to move, Granger." Malfoy said slowly.

"What did you do to me?" I asked hysterically. "What does Voldermort want with me?" I hissed.

"Why are you bringing you-know-who into this?" He asked with slight suspicion.

"Because you're a death eater, of course, and—"

Malfoy interrupted with laughter. "You think I'm a death eater?" He seemed amused.

"I _know_ you're a death eater! I saw your dark mark in the sixth year, and I…"

"I got that taken off," he said softly. He rolled up the sleeve of his once-white shirt and showed me a muscular arm with a huge scar on it. I had never seen skin so mutilated.

"How did you…?" I asked, not sure what to say.

"I did it myself," he said bluntly. "I tried every spell known to man. Nothing works on this mark. So I tried a muggle tattoo remover, but that bloody git didn't do anything. Then I got really desperate and used knives to cut out that section of skin. It grew back with the mark. Then I tried lighting my arm on fire, but that didn't work either. Do I need to elaborate?" He spat out the last sentence.

I shook my head. "Why am I here?" I whispered, still recovering after hearing his painful story.

"Because I saved you from untimely death. Now, what death eater do _you_ know that would _save_ a mudblood's life?" He asked with annoyance.

"I like how you insult me after saving my life," I muttered.

"Yeah, well, I can't be expected to save your life _and_ be nice to you. It's a bit much, Granger."

I sighed, noticing the immense pain in my stomach for the first time. "What… what _happened_ to me?" I asked hesitantly, not sure if I truly wanted to know.

"A death eater hit you with a curse. It's supposed to kill you, but I don't think you got the full blast of it," he explained nonchalantly.

"And…?" I prompted.

"And then I tripped over you," he said calmly.

"You _WHAT_?" I yelled, sitting up, but regretting it when I felt my stomach bend in half.

"I was running and I didn't see you and I tripped over you," he continued. "I landed right on my face, too! And then I thought you were dead, so I bent down to check and saw that you were alive."

"That's bloody brilliant," I muttered sarcastically. "Can you get to the part about me getting in here with you?" I asked impatiently.

"Then," he continued through clenched teeth. "I couldn't just _leave_ you there, half dead and all. So I picked you up and ran the hell away from there."

"You _carried_ me in here?" I asked with shock. "You actually _touched_ my mudblood body?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh, please," he murmured. It was dark, but I bet he rolled his eyes.

"So where _are_ we, anyway?" I asked before he could say another rude comment.

"In some cave in the Forbidden Forest. I don't know exactly… all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there," he explained.

_There_. I was so far from Hogwarts and I couldn't tell if everyone I cared about was alright. "Did you, um…" I didn't know how to say it. "Did you see anyone else? Injured, I mean?" I asked slowly.

He shook his head slowly. "I couldn't really tell."

"What about Harry?" I asked worriedly. "Did you see Harry?"

"Why is it _always_ about Potter?" He asked with anger.

"Look, he's my best friend and I just—"

"He's fine," Malfoy interrupted bitterly. "I saw him with his wand, charging at people. Voldermort won't kill him, anyway. He's saving him for last."

I cringed. "That wasn't exactly comforting, you know."

"Oh, I know. But I can't be _too_ nice to you, can I?" He asked. "I don't need you getting any ideas that I'm a changed person."

"Don't worry," I said, "I don't think you've changed at all. Though I do appreciate you saving my life." I added as an afterthought.

"I just didn't need your death on my conscience, Granger." He said nonchalantly. "That's all."

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! I'm sure that no one will really read this, since the 6th book comes out tomorrow! But I'll get my reviews eventually, I'm sure. Speaking of reviews, I like them… they motivate me and make me want to update more. And speaking of updates, I'm _very_ good with them. I usually update every 1-3 days. Usually, though, it's only two days! I hope you liked this… please review and tell me what you thought. All the other chapters are a little longer, but this is only the beginning and I didn't want to overwhelm anyone.**


	2. Chicken

**Chicken**

**Draco Malfoy**

I knew it was coming. My father owled me to tell me of the attack two days before it happened. He was under the false impression that I planned to fight _with_ the death eaters.

I remember holding the parchment, a bit afraid of the information I had. There was no way in hell I could _tell_ anyone about it. All the Slytherins knew, and they were fighting in it. My father didn't know about my little excursion with self-mutilation. I needed that dark mark _off_, and I desperately burned/cut/scratched/etc. my arm to get rid of it.

Why did I want the mark off so badly? I thought—in sixth year—that it would be _fun_ to be a death eater. I didn't realize what it meant. But now I did. I knew that the mark meant I had given up some power. I didn't like the way that sounded; I gave up some power to someone else. I started to dislike the idea that I would no longer have control over my future or my life. It scared me to the point where I was willing to do anything to rid myself of the dark mark.

The point is that my father didn't know. He couldn't… I'd be tortured. So I would get his letters about meetings and events and make up excuses as to why I didn't go. He was angry at first… but I told him I couldn't risk losing my Head Boy position and he bought that excuse.

I held the parchment with the attack details on it and ripped it in half. I didn't want to be responsible for killing people. I felt like I knew it would happen, so I could stop it… and if I didn't, I was partly to blame. So I read it once and tore it in half. That way I wouldn't remember the details. But they stayed in my mind for two days.

I went to sleep with my wand in the sleeve of my robes. I knew I would need it the next day. I wasn't going to fight. No; I was going to be a chicken and run away. I didn't want to deal with the consequences, so I planned on escaping. I guess my father was right when he once called me a coward.

When I woke up on the day of the attack, the Slytherin common room was still standing. Other parts of the school were completely destroyed. I knew that most of the death eaters were in Slytherin, so destroying the common room would be idiotic.

"Oy, Draco!" Crabb yelled. "Did you oversleep?"

I rubbed my head. "Uh, yeah."

Goyle clicked his tongue. "Your father was looking for you."

I heard enough. I ran out the common room and passed the horrors of the attack. Dead bodies were _everywhere_. Artwork was destroyed.

The worst was the Gryffindor wing. Literally _everything_ was trashed. There were more bodies there than anywhere else in the castle.

And when I was rounding the corner, I ran right into the very person I _did not_ want to see. "Draco," my father drawled pleasantly. "Did you have a late night yesterday with a girl?"

"Yes, father," I lied. "That's why I overslept."

"Very well," he smirked. "Where are you going?" He asked with slight suspicion.

"Outside," I announced firmly. "I figure a lot of people will try to run away and I want to go stop them."

"Impressive tactic!" My father praised. "Run along, then, Draco. We can handle things here."

I gulped and ran to the front doors.

When I got outside, I noticed all the people trying to get away. They were all killed pretty much instantly. I didn't have much of a chance of getting to the forest. I stood in the garden—hiding, actually—for a while.

Then I saw my chance. Most of the death eaters moved toward the other end of the school, leaving an open path to the Forbidden Forest. I took the risk. I ran in the direction faster than I ever think I had.

But then I tripped and fell flat on my face. "Shit!" I blew it.

"Granger?" I asked, shaking the body I fell over. "Are you okay?"

I looked at the girl on the ground. I thought she was dead, but putting my head next to her chest proved that she was alive. _What are you doing?_ I mentally scolded myself. _You do not have time for this! You need to get away! Just leave her!_

I almost _did_ leave her. But I couldn't… I still can't explain why. I picked her up and ran toward the forest. Granger was surprisingly lighter than I expected. I guess she didn't deserve all the times I called her a cow.

I kept running until I thought I was a safe distance from Hogwarts. I walked for hours, carrying Granger in my arms. She didn't wake up until nightfall.

Once I found a cave I thought would be a good hideout, I put Granger inside and got to work looking for some potion ingredients. I was sure Granger would be in a lot of pain when she woke up and I wanted to try and help her.

Shocking, I know. But honestly, I needed to keep my mind off of worrying abut my father finding me. I needed to worry about Granger. For several hours, I collected various plants and brewed a simple healing potion.

And then she woke up. I was so surprised to hear movement on the other end of the cave. We exchanged some conversation—none of which was very nice—and then we sat in the darkness in silence.

"What curse did I get his with?" She said, breaking the quiet in the caves.

I took a deep breath. "Avada Kedavra."

"_What_?" She asked, bewildered. "But… but… I'm _alive_."

"I know," I began, still confused. "I thought about it for hours and it doesn't make sense."

"But," She said, still in shock, "Harry's the only one who ever survived it."

"I don't think they hit you directly." I theorized. "I think you got the reflection."

"Off of what?" She wondered out loud.

"Well," I sighed, not wanting to tell her this. "Colin Creevey was killed… and he was dead near where you were, and…"

"He had his camera." Granger finished. "That makes sense."

"Here," I held out a goblet to her. "Drink this."

"What is it?" She eyes the potion suspiciously.

"It's a simple healing potion, Granger."

"How do I know you didn't poison it?" She asked dangerously, peering into the cup and then glancing at me with suspicion.

"Look," I sighed, "just trust me, okay? I didn't poison it! I spent hours making it for you."

"Sorry." She said sheepishly and she downed the potion.

Suddenly, a loud crack filled the air.

"What the hell was that?" Granger whispered.

I thought fast; I grabbed Granger—the potion kicked in somewhat by this point—and ran towards the back of the cave.

"What are you doing?" She hissed as I pulled her toward the secret cavern I found earlier that day.

"Saving your bloody life for the second time today."

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! I was really surprised to see that I got a few reviews! I'm glad people think this is different and interesting. I'm _thrilled_ that most people think it's in-character and realistic. Those are the two things I strive for above everything else. You would know that if you read my first fic, _Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace_. Speaking of which, I'm really glad that some people who read that are getting into this, as well. I hope you're all enjoying the 6th book! Please review!**


	3. Between a Rock and Draco Malfoy

**Between A Rock and Draco Malfoy**

**Hermione Granger**

Malfoy pulled me into the back of the cave forcefully. I didn't have much of a choice—trusting him was pretty much the only option I had.

He slipped in between a crevice in the rocks and pulled me in after him. It was narrow, but we fit. Then the felt around for another rock and he found one that was from floor to ceiling. He pushed me in the narrow space before he entered it himself. The next thing I knew, I was in between a rock and Draco Malfoy. His body was pressed up against mine, forcing me to stay still and motionless. The smell of his cologne was dizzying. He put his mouth by my ear and whispered, "Don't move."

"Don't worry," I breathed, "I can't."

It was then we heard the voices. "I think it's clear."

"No," said a different person, "I think someone's in here."

I held my breath as I heard footsteps coming in our direction. They passed us.

"Granger, listen to me," Malfoy whispered firmly. "Stay here. _Do not_ come out of this until I come and get you, understand?" As much as I didn't want to obey Malfoy's orders, I wasn't feeling one hundred percent better, so I nodded.

He left me in that stupid crack in between the rocks for ten bloody minutes. It seemed like _hours_, though. I couldn't hear anything but the dripping of water and muffled voices. It scared me that I didn't know what was going on.

Then he came back. "Alright, it's safe."

"Who was it?" I asked impatiently. He didn't answer. "Malfoy, you stupid git, tell me who it was— Ron! Ginny!"

I saw two of my best friends sitting in the cave on some rocks.

"Hermione!" I threw my arms around Ginny's neck.

Ron put his arms around my waist and said, "I thought you were dead."

"I didn't know what to think about you." I admitted solemnly.

----

"Now what?" I asked as we all sat in the dark cave. It was nighttime, now, and it was pitch black. We were too afraid of being seen if we used magic, so _Lumos_ was not an option.

"We can't go back to Hogwarts," Ginny offered.

Malfoy nodded. "There's now way in hell I'm leaving this place."

"Ever?" Ron asked, making an attempt to be civil. We all sort of got a long with Malfoy. "What… are you going to _live_ here or something?"

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Malfoy spat. So much for being civil. "I only meant stay here for a little while… and then try and find our way back to the wizarding world."

"We can't," Ginny said, shaking her head. "We can't go back there."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "We don't know _what_ we'll find when we get back to Hogwarts."

Something was bothering me. "Have you ever heard of The Blaze?" I asked slowly, not sure if I wanted to tell them about it.

"The _what_?" Ron asked thickly.

"I think I know what you're talking about," Ginny whispered. "But I'm not sure if I believe in it."

"Yeah, me neither, but in times like this, I—" I started.

"Care to enlighten us on what you're talking about?" Malfoy asked impatiently. Ron actually nodded in agreement.

"The Blaze," I began in a hushed tone. "Is said to exist somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest. It's a secret society that was formed by Hogwarts students about two decades ago. It was the time when the dark forces were getting stronger, and people got more and more afraid. Some students feared for their lives and ran away from school one night. They traveled for weeks and set up a camp deep within the forest."

"Yeah," Ginny said, "I've heard of it. They welcome new members, but there's one condition. No more magic. Ever."

"Wow." Ron breathed.

"None at all," I said slowly. "They're afraid that the use of magic will attract the Ministry to them. They don't want to be found."

"Do you think it's real?" Malfoy asked.

I shrugged, but remembered it was too dark for him to see. "I'm not sure."

"I think we should take the chance," Ginny began, "It's the only option we've got besides staying here and turning back."

"But Weaselette, it'll take _weeks_, and we don't even know where to go and then there's the whole 'no magic' thing!" Malfoy sputtered.

We all glared at Malfoy, but I had to admit he had some good points.

"I think I could live like that," Ginny stated simply.

"I couldn't!" Ron exclaimed.

"Me neither." Malfoy said.

"Well you all know _I_ could," I laughed. "Being a muggle and all. But after being in the wizarding world, I don't _want_ to live without magic."

"Well," Ginny said, rising from her seat. "I'm going."

"Gin, sit down!" Ron grabbed his sister and tried to make her join our circle. "Let's talk about this!"

"Ron, look," She sighed. "I don't want to stay here. I don't want to go home. I have to start over… make a new home for myself. If there are other people there already, than great. If you three don't want to join me, well, it's your loss."

"Can't you just wait until morning?" Ron pleaded.

"No." She said firmly. "I might be seen."

"But if you leave now, you won't be _able_ to see!" Ron pointed out.

"Which is worse?" Ginny asked, heading toward the front of the cave.

"Ginny," Ron pulled his sister into a hug and she started to cry.

"I'm going to miss you, Ron." She whispered.

"I'll come and find you someday, I promise." He said as he held her.

"I'll be waiting." She wiped her tears and hugged me goodbye. "I'll miss you, Hermione."

She looked over at Malfoy and said, "I probably won't miss you, but goodbye."

He laughed. "Have a nice life!"

Ron glared at him.

----

We some how managed to sleep on the cold, hard ground. I woke up with a stiff back.

Ron was still asleep when I woke up, but Malfoy was sitting upright in the corner. "Good morning," He whispered to me.

"My back is killing me." I said as I went over to where he was and sat next to him.

"Maybe we should leave this place," he said. "Maybe Weaselette was onto something," he said.

I gaped at him. "_You_?" I breathed. "_You_ want to live without magic?"

He shook his head. "I don't _want_ to, but maybe I _have_ to." He paused, "To get away from my son of a bitch father."

"I won't do it," I whispered decisively. "I was never one to go camping."

Suddenly, before Malfoy could ask what camping was, someone was at the entrance to the cave.

We froze. I looked at him, he looked at me, and we both looked at Ron. We didn't know what to do.

"It's me, it's okay," We heard from the entrance. "It's Ginny."

We relaxed, and Ron stirred in his sleep.

"Ginny!" I ran over to her and hugged her. "Why did you come back?"

She looked awful. Her hair was a tangled mess and her skin was dirty. Her clothing looked tattered, and it was more than the usual tattered-ness of the Weasley's robes.

"I had to warn Malfoy," she said slowly.

He looked up at her with surprise. "You came back to tell _me_ something?"

She nodded. She sat down on a rock across from him while I took the spot beside him. "I was walking in the direction away from Hogwarts. I walked for roughly three hours when I heard voices ahead of me. I hid in a bush and got as close to the people as I could without them seeing or hearing me. They were death eaters… and they were looking for you."

"Did they say why?" I asked.

"Your father," Ginny started. "He thinks you've come to the light side. He said you didn't respond to any of the signals when your mark should've glowed. And he said you've been skipping death eater meetings all year."

"Are they coming back in this direction?" He asked nervously. They might've missed the cave in nighttime, but there was no way they'd fail to see it in broad daylight.

"I'm not sure." Ginny said.

"We can't stay here," Malfoy said again. "Whether The Blaze exists or not, we need to find it."

"Come on," I began, "we don't know where we're going and if it's even there!"

"So?" He asked. "If it's not there, we'll make it ourselves. We'll build a home for ourselves. We'll find more people from Hogwarts that are in the forest and let them in."

"This is risky," Ginny said.

"What's life without risks?" Malfoy asked us. "What's life living in a cave, worried about being caught?"

At this point, Ron woke up. "Ginny?"

We told him what happened and of our plans to go to The Blaze. "Well," He said nervously. "I'm not staying here alone."

And so, we gathered our wands and headed out of the cave, unsure of what we would find.

**Author's Notes: Wow, thanks for all the reviews! Only two chapters in and there are already more than 30! To some of you who said this works with the 6th book, I'm glad, though I'm not quite done yet! I'm limiting myself to three chapters a day, do I don't end up reading the whole thing in one afternoon. So, in short, nothing that happens (at least for the first few chapters) will have anything to do with book 6. I'll also hold off on spoilers… since I know a lot of people aren't done reading yet, either. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER! (I did these with my other fic and people seemed to like them… so here you go!) Chapter 4 is in Draco's POV again. They all set out to find The Blaze, and they stay in another cave. While they're there, they find a dead body and a Death Eater pays them a visit… Please review!**


	4. Brutally Honest

**Brutally Honest**

**Draco Malfoy**

My biggest character flaw is that I act _very_ compulsively at times. For example, when I heard that _daddy dearest_ was looking for me, I panicked. I decided on the first plan I thought up; to leave the cavern and find The Blaze.

Bad idea? Totally. But staying in that godforsaken cave wasn't an option either.

When we left the cavern, the sun was just beginning to rise. The sky was tinted with a gold-pink color that was warm and comforting. At the same time, however, it was scary, since the light was what could ultimately give us away.

"I went this way last time," Ginny whispered. We all followed… she knew better than we did.

We walked in silence for hours. Finally, Granger sat down on the ground. "I need a break."

"There's a clearing in the woods just up there," Ginny pointed. "There's a waterfall and some rocks we could rest on…"

We took her up on that suggestion and found the clearing. I sat on the first rock I came to and Granger sat by the water. "This is becoming more and more of a really bad idea," she said.

"Well, then," Ron scoffed, "what do _you_ and your brilliant mind suggest?"

Granger bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know! But, come on, Ron! What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry," he regretted, sitting next to her. "I just am _not_ happy right now."

"None of us are," Ginny admitted. "But we have to go somewhere _far_ from here."

"Yeah," I chimed in. "We need to go somewhere that takes months to find."

"The Blaze," Granger said simply. "We need to find it."

"And another thing we need to do," Ginny said slowly, "is rid ourselves of magic."

She then stood up, climbed up the side of the waterfall, and motioned to us to follow her. We all climbed up the cliff… even Granger, who claimed to be so tired. Then Ginny took her wand from her pocket and snapped it in half.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Ron exclaimed, his eyes bulging from his head. "We don't have money for a new one! Mum and Dad will…"

"Don't you get it, Ron?" Ginny chuckled under her breath. "Money doesn't matter. Mum and Dad could be dead," Granger gasped slightly, not wanting to think about it. I couldn't help but think that Ginny was being _very_ blunt. "And magic will only get us hunted down." With those brutally honest words, Weasley Junior tossed the broken shards of her wand off the cliff. They cascaded down into the cold, clear water.

I knew what was going to happen next, and I was prepared. When Weaselette gave her touching little speech, I had taken it upon myself to pick up a pointed stick from the ground. When Granger sighed, reached into her pocket, and snapped her wand in half, I followed. I, however, used the stick. There was no way in hell I was breaking my wand… we didn't even know what we'd find in the forest! Granger smiled at me with her approval, and we let go of the pieces of our _wands_. Weasley Senior caved in and cracked his wand in half, too.

We then turned our backs on the waterfall and everything we once knew to be our lives. We all knew that things were _never_ going to be the same.

----

Around nightfall, we found another cave where we intended to spend the night. "This cave is a little cleaner than the last one," Granger said with forced optimism. She seemed to be the most miserable out of the four of us.

"Yeah," I snorted. "The other cave didn't have a dead person in it."

"_What_?" Ginny Weasley asked, clinging to her brother.

"Over here," I said nonchalantly, "there is a dead body."

Granger rose from her seat on the ground and came over to where I was standing. She gasped when she saw the mangled human form on the ground. "Who…?" she trailed off, not wanting to know.

I shrugged. "It's a little hard to tell."

Granger suddenly gasped. "Is that…" she bent over the body. "Oh my god!" She covered her mouth with her hands and looked as though she was about to cry.

"Who is it?" I asked, still not too sure.

"It's Luna Lovegood!"

Ginny Weasley started crying. I rolled my eyes, which caused Granger to mutter, "If I had my wand…"

"Ah, see, but you don't!" I said cheerily. "So, therefore, you can't hex me into oblivion, which I'm _sure_ is what you would have said."

"But, seriously Malfoy! One of our classmates is dead!" Granger said. "Can't you act like a decent human being?"

I thought about this. "No."

She gave a frustrated cry.

"What was Loony—" Granger glared and Ron. "Er… I mean, _Luna _doing in this cave, anyway?" He asked.

Ginny was still crying. "I was so mean to her when she was alive!"

"Stop wailing," I said firmly. "It doesn't matter, anyway, how you treated her. She's somewhere else now, with her mother."

"Malfoy," Granger said warmly, "that was almost decent!"

I rolled my eyes. "She always used to say that she'd see her dearest mum in the afterlife."

"Speaking of afterlives," Ron interjected, "we're all going to have one if we don't get out of here."

We all looked at him, and he pointed at the Death Eater who was headed toward our cave. "Shit!" I cursed, recognizing the wizard as a man my father was particularly fond of. It was Gregory Goyle's father.

I got off of the log I was sitting on and went to the mouth of the cave. No one followed me, but I knew it wouldn't help if they did… since they didn't have wands.

"Draco!" Goyle said with fake happiness. "Your father will be so pleased to know I found you!"

"Where is he?" I asked casually. "I've been looking for him," I lied.

"Well, Draco, he isn't in the forest! Whatever gave you that idea?" Goyle asked.

"Oh, well, I just thought he'd run away from the Ministry… seeing that they decided to come to the attack and all," it was a risk, making up that Ministry bit, but Goyle bought it.

"Very logical, indeed, Draco!" He praised. "Hang on," he glanced behind me. "Is that Mudblood Granger?"

"Ah, yes," I smirked.

Goyle reached for his wand. "Let me finish her off for you, Draco—"

"No, no," I said slowly. "That won't be necessary. I'm saving her for myself…. for _later_."

Granger made a face of utmost horror, though I'm sure she was only acting.

"I see," Goyle laughed. "But you must bring her with us, then."

"What?" I asked, not wanting to leave the cave.

"Your father wants to see you as soon as possible, Draco," Goyle explained. "So bring the Mudblood with us while we go find him."

"I'm not going," I said bravely. "I'll find him later."

"No, Draco, you see," he sighed. "I was given _very_ strict orders to come and bring you to your father."

"Well, I'll catch up with him myself, Goyle."

"Draco, don't make me—"

"Stupefy!" I yelled as there was a flash of light.

"Malfoy?" Three voices asked with shock from the back of the cave.

"What in the world was _that_?" Granger asked, eyeing my wand.

"_That_ was me saving _your_ goddamn life for the _third_ time in two days!" I scoffed. Some people were so ungrateful!

"Not _that_!" Granger muttered angrily. "Your wand! You still have your wand!"

"Well, obviously," I said, twirling it between my fingers.

She put her hand out and said, "Give it to me."

"No!" I said forcefully. "We can't destroy them all! What if we run into my father… or another Death Eater… or Voldermort himself?"

Ginny stood up. "Yeah, I have to agree here. Maybe cracking all the wands was a bad idea."

"So we should keep one, is that what you're saying?" Granger asked her.

"Yeah," Ginny nodded.

"Wait a minute!" Ron said. "Why should _he_ get to have control over the only wand we've got? He's a bloody Death Eater!"

"Are you thick or something, Weasel?" I asked. "I'm not a Death Eater!"

"Oh, yeah, right!" Ron rolled his eyes. "You heard him, '_I'm saving her for myself…for later'_!"

"That was bloody acting!" I yelled. "I was trying to persuade Goyle to leave us alone!"

"Oh, right! Like I should believe you!" Ron yelled.

"STOP IT!" Granger screamed. "Stop!" Everyone turned to look at her. "We can't keep doing this! We have to get along or we'll never get anything accomplished! If we can't work together than we'll all go our separate ways and just… get ourselves killed!"

We all looked at the ground in silence. And as much as it killed me to think it, she was right.

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please review! I finished the book (okay, so I cheated on my "three chapters a day" thing), and I still stand with what I said: read this as if Half Blood Prince never happened. I hope you all enjoyed the book!**

**NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Hermione's POV. They all try to sleep in the cave, but it's a little hard with the dead body and everything. And then Draco has another secret. It turns out that his wand wasn't the only thing he was keeping from the others… **


	5. Grossly Out of Touch

**Grossly Out of Touch**

**Hermione Granger**

"Do you think The Blaze is out there?" Ginny asked with a yawn as we all attempted to sleep that night. It proved to be impossible… with a stupefied version of Goyle outside and a very dead and rotting Luna Lovegood in the back of the cave.

"How many times are you going to ask that?" Malfoy snapped angrily.

"God," Ron muttered, "some people get snappy when they're sleepy."

"Can it, Weasel," Malfoy whispered angrily.

I groaned. "Do I have to repeat my speech?"

"No!" Both Malfoy and Ron said at the same time. I'm pretty sure even Ginny was saying it softly.

I rolled over onto my back. Sleeping on stone floors was _not_ comfortable. I was tempted to use the wand to conjure up some mattresses or pillows. Even a simple blanket would be nice…

However, we all swore we wouldn't use the wand unless we were being attacked. And we also swore that if we were careless with using the wand, Draco's father or someone else would sense it and figure out our location. And so, I was in control of the wand for that day. We decided to alternate days... Malfoy, me, Ron, Ginny. It was kind of comforting knowing that I had it in my pocket that night.

"Screw it," Malfoy said. "There's no way I'm sleeping tonight."

"Yeah…" Ginny said, "That body is giving me the creeps. Even if I can't see it… just knowing it's _there_ is making me nervous."

"Let's move it, then," said Malfoy, getting up off the ground. I was "sleeping" next to Ginny and open air. Ron was on the other side of Ginny, and Malfoy was on the complete other side of the cave… closest to me.

"What?" I asked, also getting up off the ground. "Have you gone mad?"

"Well I'm in a cave here with all of you, aren't I?" He asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"Seriously!" Ron said, sitting upright. "You can't be considering _touching_ that thing?"

"That _thing_ is Luna Lovegood!" Malfoy said dangerously.

"You mean, _was_ Luna Lovegood," I said as I bit my lower lip.

"You three are grossly out of touch with death," Malfoy snickered. He walked over to the back of the cave. I followed him. "Oh, good, I didn't even have to ask for volunteers and I've got one!"

I rolled my eyes. "Where are you bringing her?"

"Just outside… we don't have anything to dig a hole with, so we should just put her in some bushes or something," he suggested, bending over to pick her limp body up.

"Hermione!" Ginny shrieked. "You're _not_ going to touch her, are you?"

I thought about what Malfoy had said. _You three are grossly out of touch with death_. "Oh, Ginny, it's just Luna."

"Yeah," Ron said with a cracked voice. "I'll help, too." We both were trying to show Malfoy that we weren't afraid of the dead body… but I, for one, was terrified.

Ginny backed into the corner. "Well, don't look at me for help! I think you three can manage."

Malfoy grabbed Luna's head and I gently picked up her feet. I tried not to look. If I looked in the other direction, it made it seem like I wasn't carrying her. Ron helped us see to the end of the cave. "This is really disgusting," he muttered.

"Why are the Weasleys so squeamish when it comes to death?" Malfoy asked with subtle interest. _She's only sleeping. She fainted. Someone stupefied her. _

No one spoke at this. "Oh, well, some people are never comfortable around dead bodies, I suppose," Malfoy said, still carrying Luna.

_Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't…look. _"Oh my god!" I screeched, dropping my half of Luna.

"Shit, Granger!" Malfoy said, stumbling with the dead body. "I thought you were braver than that!"

"It's just… she's so… _mangled_." I looked at the Luna I once knew. Her blond hair was sprayed with blood, and it was matted and tangled. Her skin was bloodied and dirty, and her clothes were the same way. Her limbs were broken, no doubt, and her eyes were shut tight.

"Spare us the gruesome details!" Ginny wailed, covering her ears hastily.

"I'll carry her myself, then," Malfoy said as he adjusted the way he was holding Luna's body. He exited the cave and when he came back in, he wiped his hands on his legs. "There," he sighed. "Now we can all go to sleep."

I shook my head. "That just frightened me even more! There's no way I'll be able to sleep without having dreams where Luna is—"

"Stop!" Ginny cried suddenly. "I don't want to talk about this anymore!"

"So," Malfoy said smoothly after a quick moment of silence. "Do you think The Blaze is out there?"

"You git!" Ginny scolded with a smile tugging at her lips. "You yelled at me when _I_ asked the question about an hour ago!"

"Yeah, well, that was you," he mumbled. "And I want answers this time! A discussion, maybe."

"Alright, then," I said slowly. "I think it's out there."

"Me too," Ron said.

"I don't think it is," Malfoy said.

"That's because you're a pessimist!" I sneered.

"No I'm not!" He defended. "I'm a realist!"

"That's a good one!" I said with tears of laughter staining my cheeks. "A _realist_? No way!"

"Yeah," Ginny said with a smirk. "You're totally a cynic, Malfoy."

"I suppose maybe I am a cynic, but that has nothing to do with why I don't think there is a Blaze," he retorted.

"Then why don't you think there's one?" Ginny asked. She still didn't state her belief, I noticed.

"Because it would be _hard_ for wizards and witches to escape Hogwarts, travel for months, and then build a city with no magic at all!" He said.

"Yeah, it would, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't do it," I pointed out.

"Well, do you see anyone we know running like that? Getting away from something that hasn't even come yet and facing hidden dangers to escape what might not even be a threat?"

"I see us, doing it," Ron said slowly.

"No, this is different," Malfoy started.

"I agree," I said, "because we _know_ there's something happening back at school. And we know that the threat of Voldermort killing us is _very_ real."

"And those who founded The Blaze didn't know if the Dark Lord was really going to attack Hogwarts," Ginny pointed out. "All they knew was that he was gaining power and they needed to run away if they wanted to live."

"Which, of course, was pretty pointless," I said with a laugh, "since Voldermort never attacked Hogwarts until now."

"Yeah, they would've lived anyway," Ron said. "Unless they did something really stupid."

"Such as running away from the safest place in the wizarding world," Ginny said. "I don't think The Blaze exists."

"Well, then," Malfoy smirked triumphantly. "I guess I should mention that even though I don't believe it exists, I have proof that it does."

"What do you mean?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"I mean," he said, pulling something from his pocket, "that Luna Lovegood was going to The Blaze," he paused. "And she had directions."

**Author's Note: Well, there's another chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. Oh, and Letty, I _do_ agree that it sort of fits with the book, but in some ways, I don't think it does. I don't want to spoil HBP for anyone that didn't finish it yet, but I'll just say that my story picks up in a very different place than where HBP leaves off. I just think that the ending of HBP doesn't suggest that Hermione and Ron would take off like that and leave Harry. And I'll also say that I started writing this before HBP came out, so I don't want to adjust my plan for this story according to the new book. Yes, I have a plan! I know how I want this to end… and it's going to have A LOT more chapters before that happens, though, so don't worry! **

**NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: This one's in Draco's POV (don't worry; I'll have a Ron or a Ginny chapter soon!). He shares the directions with the others, who try to figure out what it means, since it's in riddle form. The next day, it's Ron's turn to have the wand. Hermione won't hand it over, though, because he keeps talking about food and she's afraid that he'll use the wand to get some bacon. So Ginny gets resourceful and finds some raspberries for Ron to eat. But, when Ron sees where they came from, he loses his appetite for the first time in his life. Then they all start to follow the directions. And some other stuff happens, but I don't want to spoiler the _entire_ thing! Please review!**


	6. Directions

**Directions**

**Draco Malfoy **

"Directions?" Granger squeaked when I revealed the tattered piece of parchment I took from my pocket.

"Directions," I said simply. "Luna had this in her fist," I unfolded the parchment and handed it to Granger.

"_Start by escaping the place you know best. Then continue on your way, due west. Pass the cavernous ruins, one by one. Travel day and night, until you're forced to run. The resting rock will show you the way. Follow its arrows and do not stray. Take several weeks worth of time until you see The Light. And remember, if you're encountered, never give up the fight._" She read aloud. "It's some sort of riddle."

"Yeah," Weasley said. "I think we did some of it already."

His sister agreed. "_Start by escaping the place you know best_; that must be Hogwarts. Then you have to continue west."

"_Pass the cavernous ruins, one by one_," Granger muttered, re reading the words over and over in her mind. "There must only be two," she theorized. "And we're in the second one…"

"And," Ginny interjected, "if you assume that, the next thing we have to do is _travel day and night until_ we're _forced to run_."

"Why would we be forced to run?" I asked. "I mean… it could be for a number of reasons, but it must be more specific. Like, there must be something that will chase us."

"Yeah," Granger nodded, still reading the riddle. "Maybe some sort of magical creature."

"Well that's bloody wonderful!" Ron burst out sarcastically.

"_The resting rock will show you the way._" Granger muttered. "Maybe there's a big rock with some arrows on it? And we have to follow them…"

"Yeah, that would make sense," Ginny admitted. "But what could _The Light_ be? And why is it capitalized like that?"

Her brother shrugged. "And we have to fight if we're encountered. Too bad we only have one wand."

"Well, it's better than no wands," I pointed out.

"True," Granger muttered.

"So, where did you put Luna?" Ginny asked slowly.

"In a bush," I said matter-of-factly.

"Okay," she said with a yawn. "'Night."

And with that… we all went to sleep.

----

"_Travel day and night, until you're forced to run_," Granger said when we were all awake.

"Yeah, and what about _food_?" Ron asked. "I haven't eaten anything in days! And wait a minute… it's my day for the wand! Hand it over, 'Moine!"

"Hang on, Ron!" Granger said, holding the wand behind her back. "Just because it's 'your day' doesn't mean you can go and make a plate of bacon appear before you!"

"Bacon…" Ron muttered dreamily, reaching for the wand.

"Ron! Listen to Hermione!" Ginny said, smacking her brother on the head.

"Oh, of course. I'll just go find some berries or something," Ron muttered.

"Oh, please, Ronald Weasley!" Ginny said with a smirk. "You're going to conjure up some eggs and toast as soon as you get your hands on that wand!"

"Eggs and toast…."

"Stop it!" Granger said. "Ron, you can't! You have to stop obsessing over food! We have to survive, now. We can't lust after things we can't have."

"But, see, you're wrong there," Ron said to Granger. "We _can_ have eggs, toast, and bacon if we want. Hell, we can even have blueberry waffles!"

"You're missing the point!" Granger exclaimed, exasperated.

"I think what Granger is trying to say here, Weasel, is that we _can't_ make things appear magically without magic." I said. "We have to use the magic wisely… like if we met a Death Eater or someone got badly hurt."

"But my _stomach_ is badly hurt!" Ron whined. I rolled my eyes.

"Here, eat these," Ginny shoved some raspberries under her brother's nose. "They were growing by the cave."

"Hey, these are pretty good!" Ron said happily. "Where'd you get them?"

"Oh, uh," Ginny shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Just outside the cave."

"Show me! I want more!" Her brother said, rising from his rock.

"I'll get them for you, Ron," she said slowly. "Your stomach is _badly hurt_, after all," she said smoothly. I wondered what she was hiding.

"No," Ron insisted, following her. "I want to know _exactly_ where this stash is!"

They exited the cave, and I looked at Granger who just shook her head. "We're so totally dead," she said with a sigh.

"Let me give a shot at this optimism thing you rave about so much," I said. "We're not going to die. We have directions. We've got one wand. We even found a nice little berry bush outside this cave." Even I didn't convince myself.

"Yeah," she said, eyeing me with skepticism. "We're _so_ dead."

Then we heard a scream, coming from the mouth of the cave. It was coming from the mouth of Ronald Weasley, to be more specific. Granger grabbed the wand and we both ran to the beginning of the cavern. "Bloody hell, Ginny!" Ron wailed, spitting all over the ground. "Why didn't you pick them from somewhere _else_?"

"Sorry, they just looked ripe on this bush!" She yelled defensively.

"Yeah, but…" Ron made a disgusted face. "Didn't you _see_ that _thing_ in the bush?"

"That _thing_ is Luna Lovegood!" Granger imitated me with mockery. I scowled.

"Screw optimism," I mumbled under my breath. "We're so totally dead."

----

We decided to leave that place while the early morning light was still dim. We had to "_travel day and night_," after all. We wondered how long that was for. Well, we expected to have to run at some point, but we all hoped that wouldn't be any time soon.

"I'm hungry," Ron muttered at around noon.

"Blood hell, Weasley!" I groaned. "Can't you think about something _other_ than food for five minutes?"

"No," he said with no hesitation.

"I'm nervous about you having that wand," Granger said slowly.

"Don't worry, Hermione," he said. "I took what you said to heart. I'm not going to use it unless something threatening comes along."

"Good," his sister said lightly.

----

"How do we know we're going the right way?" I asked cautiously. We had been traveling for several hours at this point and the sun was beginning to set.

"Why don't you try being something other than a pessimist?" Granger snapped.

"I'm trying to be realistic here," I muttered. "We don't know which way west is. We could be headed back to Hogwarts!"

"We're not," Ginny said simply. "I'm good with direction. We're going in the total opposite direction of the school."

"If you're so sure…" I said.

"I am," she declared defensively.

"Alright," I muttered.

"Day and night," Granger sighed. "For how long? I hate vague directions!"

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "They must've been concerned that they could fall into the wrong hands."

"They're not _that_ difficult to decipher!" I said. "Anyone with half a brain could figure out what they mean by these clues."

"Which is precisely why Death Eaters wouldn't get it," Ron said.

"Are you saying they have half a brain?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"Does that offend you, Malfoy? Does talking about you're father—"

"Ron, don't!" Granger hissed.

"Weasel, you know nothing about me or my family, so maybe you should shut your mouth," I said dangerously.

"Well, Malfoy, you always seem quick to talk about _my_ family, so why can't I talk about yours?" He remarked snidely.

"Because," I began. "Your family is different than mine. Mine is better that yours, and—"

"_Locomotor Mortis_!" Ron yelled, causing my legs to bind together so I couldn't walk.

"Ron!" Granger scolded loudly, grabbing the wand from his hands.

"He bloody asked for it!" Ron yelled when Granger smacked him on the head.

"It doesn't matter!" She yelled. "We have to get along, Ron! We can't keep doing this! And if someone is trying to find us, you might have just helped them!"

"This is nice and all," I muttered at Granger. "You defending my honor and all, but can you please just use the bloody counter curse?"

She made a huffing sound and muttered the spell that enabled me to walk again. We all continued walking down the trail in the forest.

"Thank you," I whispered, barely audible. Malfoy don't thank people. We don't owe anyone anything.

"What was that?" She asked, an evil smirk pulling at her lips.

"I said 'thank you'." I muttered miserably.

"Did you really?" Ginny asked with mock surprise. "Now I think you owe Hermione something."

"No I don't," I said firmly. "I saved her life three times already… if anything, she owes _me_."

"That's the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard!" Granger scoffed.

"Yeah," Ginny scowled. "She owes you, but you don't owe her anything?"

"That's right," I said proudly.

"That's hypocritical," said Ginny with a nod.

"Malfoys don't owe anyone anything," I declared.

"Can't you just drop the goddamn act, Malfoy?" Granger whispered.

"What was that?" I asked dangerously.

"I said, can't you drop your little act? I mean, come on, Malfoy, just drop the ego and the pride! We're in the middle of a bloody forest… we can't keep acting like we used to! Things have changed… we can all start over completely if we want."

"But I don't want to," I said, shaking my head.

**Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! Please review! I'm going to answer some reviews, because I got asked a lot of questions this time!**

**Dream Phantom: Other people do survive, but you have to wait and see! That comes a little later.**

**Sayaku-chan: Yeah, I agree with you. I can't really understand why people would get so upset over it… I thought it was the best one in a while. I knew the "big sad thing" would happen eventually, so I wasn't surprised or really that saddened by it. And I can't wait until you update Reunion! **

**MisZHPLoVeR: They _did_ mention Harry, in the first chapter. Draco said he was alive when he last saw him. Ron and Ginny didn't mention, him, I realize. When they find another survivor (you knew it would happen eventually… I mean, not just 4 people get away), they'll learn more about what's happened at Hogwarts. Oh, and thanks! I do read all of my reviews… they are sent to me through e-mail. I always read them. **

**tolazytosignin: The thing with Harry isn't quite something I can answer just yet. But the Draco/Hermione pairing question? Yes, I can answer that. And the answer is yes. It will happen eventually. It's not something that is going to be rushed from the start. It won't appear for several more chapters. But it _is_ going to happen, you just have to be patient! **

**Hermione Charlotte Granger: You were right! You'll find more about Luna's death later. Someone they come across knows something.**

**To everyone that asked about Harry: I can't answer that yet! You'll hear more about what happens to him later, though. I can't say more. **

**NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: They travel day and night. But then they're forced to run. By what? You'll see! And something else happens… but I don't want to say what it is.**


	7. Do or Tell

**Do or Tell**

**Hermione Granger**

Three days later, we were still traveling. We were so tired and hungry and scared. Or, at least, _I_ was.

"How much longer do you think we need to do this?" I asked miserably one afternoon.

"Until we're forced to run," Malfoy smirked.

"Very funny," I mumbled.

"Honestly, Hermione, why are you so miserable?" Ginny asked gently.

I thought about this. I could lie… tell them I wasn't nearly as sad as they thought I was. Or I could tell the truth. In my experience, the truth is often a lot worse than the lies. The truth can be so ugly that you'd much rather hear false things.

Why was I so upset? Well, first of all, I was walking to a place I wasn't sure would still be there. And secondly, my worst enemy had saved my life three times, and as much as I hated to admit it, I _did_ fell as thought I should owe him something. Thirdly, everyone I knew from Hogwarts could possibly be dead… and I knew for a fact that at least two girls I had been in classes with were, indeed, dead. Fourthly, there was the whole Harry thing. Malfoy said he was alive when he last saw him… but… I was so afraid that he would be finished off and the dark lord would rise to a greater power than anyone could imagine. And did I mention Malfoy was getting on my last nerve?

"I'm fine," I said through my teeth. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Well, hopefully we'll get past this stage soon," Ron said with a reassuring smile as he patted my upper back.

And there was another thing to be upset over. Ron and Ginny fell for my lies. They _always _did. Every time.

Yes, yes, I _lie_ to my friends on a regular basis. They don't need to know some things about me. They didn't need to know that I cheated on a potions exam once… I added a hair to it, making the potion turn the right color, but not really do what it was supposed to. They didn't need to know that I was terribly afraid of death… that just the thought that everyone I knew—and myself—would someday die made me dizzy and nauseous.

----

We were resting for the night. Going four days without sleep isn't good for anyone… even people who were desperate beyond belief.

I managed to build a small fire… one that wouldn't be easy to spot, but that warmed us and allowed us to see a little. According to Ginny, we were so far from Hogwarts that no one would even think anyone was out here. So we thought we were safe for now.

"Let's play a game," Ginny said as we were all just sitting around the fire, staring intently into the flames.

"That is the lamest idea I've heard in a while. And I've spent the last five or so days with you lot," Malfoy muttered grimly.

"What kind of game?" I asked dully.

"How about do or tell?" Ron asked.

"What?" I asked slowly.

"You've never heard of that?" Malfoy asked. "Wow, I almost thought you were smart."

"Oh, you know, like a truth or dare type game," Ginny said, ignoring Malfoy. "Hermione," she smiled evilly. "Do or tell?"

"Uh…" I stuttered. "Tell…?" I squeaked. I wasn't sure what Ginny would ask me. I was even more afraid of what I would answer.

"Oh, damn, I forgot!" Ginny said suddenly. "We can't use magic! That means people could lie if they wanted to. But that's just rotten," she said with a meaningful glance in my direction.

I sighed. "I promise I won't lie." I wasn't sure if that was a good thing to say.

"Good!" Ginny exclaimed pleasantly. I wondered how she could be so cheerful in a situation like this. I supposed she was really feeling sick inside, but she didn't want it to show. In that case, she was a brilliant actress. "Now, Hermione, tell us what you miss most about Hogwarts."

I thought about this. "Feeling secure. Learning things I never even dreamt were possible. Having friends all around. Knowing that every day was the same… I had a schedule and nothing was spontaneous."

"Now you get to ask a question," Ron said. "To anyone you'd like," he continued, nodding in the direction of Malfoy, who was staring into the fire.

"Malfoy," I said with fake pleasantness. "Do or tell?"

"I'm not playing," he snapped, not looking into my eyes.

"Oh, come _on_, Malfoy," I said soothingly. "Are you afraid you'll say something you didn't want us to know?"

"Fine!" He caved in, just like I knew he would. With him, it was about pushing the right buttons… pulling the right strings… saying the right words. It didn't take much. "Tell," he muttered.

"Okay, then," I said happily. I wanted to make this worthwhile. "Are you really as cynical as you like to make it seem?" I asked carefully. "Or is it all an act?"

"It's not an act," he said sharply. "Love isn't real. Feelings mean nothing. Acting upon those feelings makes you crazy."

I felt pity toward him. I shook my head. "That's sad."

"Well, if you've lived a life like mine, you realize things other people don't. You see firsthand that things like love are a waste of time and they don't mean anything."

"Then what do you think makes the world turn?" I demanded.

"Money," he said simply. He looked at me with malice in his eyes, as though he didn't mean to say all of that. "What can I suppose keeps _you_ going? Books? Weasley? Learning? Potter? Your muggle parents? Hogwarts? McGonagall? _Love_?" He scoffed.

I turned away from him and looked out into the darkness. I held myself and rocked back and forth slightly. "I hate you," I whispered into the wind.

----

It was on the seventh day on the run that we finally learned what "_until you're forced to run_" meant.

It started out like a pretty normal day. Well, not quite, but you know what I mean. Malfoy and I were completely ignoring each other, Ginny and Ron were arguing over stupid things, and the sun was barely beginning to rise. It was probably about four in the morning, and we had all been woken up by some loud sound in the distance. The fire had been extinguished since none of us bothered to stay up and watch it. I was freezing, stiff, and still seething from Malfoy's comments from the night before.

We heard a loud noise and we all woke up instantly. "What the hell was that?" Malfoy asked, sitting upright quickly.

"It sounded like a…" I paled. "Shit!"

"What?" Everyone asked, as they saw the look growing on my face. I had heard that sound before… I knew what it was.

"It's a…" I paused, biting my lower lip. "It's a hippogriff."

"Shit!" Everyone exclaimed, gathering themselves up off the ground.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked me cautiously.

"Positive. And there's more than one. It's a herd," I said with regret.

"Damn it!" Ron said angrily. "Now I know what they meant by the running thing!"

"Maybe they were trained," Malfoy theorized. "Maybe whoever founded The Blaze trained them to chase people to a certain spot."

"Interesting idea, Malfoy, but I'll have to disagree," I said. "It doesn't make much sense… they could chase Ministry workers or Death Eaters to the right direction."

"Maybe they were trained to spot the difference," he offered.

"Oh, right," Ron drawled sarcastically. "The founders said to the hippogriff, 'Hey, little buddy! When you see people that are mean and scary and have a weird tattoo on their arm, chase them to the left! And when you see normal, school-aged looking people, chase them to the right! And if you're too dumb to spot the difference, just attack them!'"

"Very funny, Weasley, but in case you didn't know, Hippogriffs can sense feelings. They know if you're afraid of them or if you want them to help you. They can tell if you have hatred within you or if you have love within you."

"All this coming from the idiot who insulted one and got his arm scratched up because of it!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Either way it doesn't matter," Ginny said. "Because it'll sense that Malfoy's a big cynic and it full of hatred and it won't send him along with us. It'll think he's a death eater."

"Unless, of course," I said with my eyes sparkling. "Malfoy really _is_ a liar."

"You know," he scowled. "I don't exactly have time for these petty debates. Considering, especially, that there is a particularly pissed-off looking hippogriff headed straight for us."

"Shit!" Ron, Ginny, and I cursed simultaneously.

And so, we learned the meaning of the riddle. We ran. We ran fast and far and we didn't look back until we stopped hearing the thundering footsteps pounding behind us.  
And then we saw something else that worried us. Or, rather, we saw _someone_ else… and _that_ worried us. Malfoy drew out the wand and aimed. The figure turned to face us and Malfoy dropped the wand. "_Longbottom?_"

**Author's Note: Sorry for the cliff hanger! But come on, admit it was a good one. Thanks for all the reviews and for reading this! Please review for this chapter! NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Neville tells them more about The Blaze. Yes, he _does_ know what it is and he _is_ going there. He knows a lot more than they do about who founded it, where it is, and where to get the directions Luna had. Why? Because he's got a special job that has to do with The Blaze. As it that's not shocking enough, the person who _gave_ him the job will blow your mind.**

**Review! Thanks!**


	8. First Time For Everything

**First Time for Everything**

**Draco Malfoy**

As if I didn't need another reason to hate those bloody hippogriff creatures. We all had slept very little, ate close to nothing… and then we had to run at full speed for several, long minutes.

And when we finally thought it was safe to stop running, there was a figure kneeling by a stream, splashing water onto his face. I took out the wand, and then the figure must've heard us or something, because he turned to face us. When I saw who it was, I dropped the wand. "_Longbottom?_" I gasped, hardly believing Neville Longbottom would actually be alive.

What he did next just shocked all of us. He stood to his feet and glared at me. Then he dove to the ground and snatched up my wand! "Let my friends go, Malfoy."

"Longbottom, I'm not holding them captive or anything!" I insisted.

"Neville, it's okay," Granger said soothingly. "We're all running away together."

"You," he said, pointing the wand at my neck. "You put them under the imperious curse."

"No I didn't!" I insisted weakly. I knew there was no way of proving this.

"Neville, he _didn't_," Ginny and Ron said at the same time.

"Why are you running away with Gryffindors, Malfoy? Why aren't you fighting with the death eaters?" Longbottom asked threateningly.

"I'm not a death eater," I said, rolling up my sleeve with a sigh. Everyone cringed when they saw what was coming, but Neville looked with interest.

"Oh…" he breathed quietly, looking at the patch of skin on my arm that was no longer alive. It was sort of a blackish color now… it was really quite disgusting. But desperate times call for _extremely_ desperate measures.

"Are you alright?" Granger asked Longbottom.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" he said slowly. He actually looked like he was about to pass out.

"Where are you headed?" Ginny asked him.

"I'm not sure," he said with a little bit of nervousness in his voice. "You?"

"We're going to The Bl—"

"We don't know either," Granger interrupted Weasley.

"Hang on," Longbottom narrowed his eyes at Weasley. "Were you about to say The Blaze?"

No one spoke. We knew we weren't supposed to be telling people about this place.

"You were," Longbottom concluded from our silence. "Who gave you the directions?"

"Luna Lovegood," I said after a little hesitation.

"That little…." Longbottom had a mean look in his eyes. "She's not a distributor! Who else did she give them to?"

"Just us…" Granger said. "I think."

"I knew I couldn't trust her." Longbottom scowled.

"What do you mean she wasn't a distributor?" Ginny asked.

"There are two students at Hogwarts who are The Blaze directions distributors. They are picked by the former seventh years, right before graduation. They have to be trust worthy and no one would have to suspect them of being knowledgeable on the subject. Their job is to give directions to people who want them… but they have to perform a series of tests that last anywhere from a week to a month. These tests determine if the person is trustworthy, if they actually intend on living without magic, and if they aren't going to turn anyone in to the Ministry or death eaters or even Dumbledore."

"So how do people find out about The Blaze in the first place?" I asked.

"Word of mouth. Someone hears about it from an older sibling and they tell some friends. But most people think it's a rumor. Very few people actually seek directions."

Granger asked, "Who are the current distributors?"  
"Well, me, for one," Longbottom said slowly. "And Blasie Zambini."

"_What_?" I asked.

"Blasie was chosen by the last distributor, just like I was. He left Hogwarts about a week before the attack. He knew it was going to happen, so he took off. His parents would kill him if they saw he didn't have a dark mark."

I knew Zambini's situation was similar to mine… but I had no idea he was as desperate as me. I noticed his absence… seeing as he shares my dormitory, but I didn't think anything of it. I assumed he was spending the nights with his girlfriend and that he was skipping classes to be with her. She _did_ seem to control his entire life.

"Who on earth picked _him_?" I demanded. "And who picked _you_?"

Longbottom glared at me and said, "Fred and George Weasley."

"_What_?" Ginny and Ron dropped their jaws. "They… directions?" Ron gaped.

"But," I said slowly, doing the math in my head. "They graduated two years before us. So they couldn't have…"

"Oh, yeah," Longbottom said. "They picked us even though we weren't the right age. They said they didn't trust anyone in the year under them."

"What about _me_?" Ron demanded. "Why wouldn't they tell _me_ about this?"

"Ron, you know you would totally tell someone or something," Ginny said. "You would ruin it."

"Would _not_!" He insisted angrily.

"So you're going, then? To The Blaze, I mean," Granger changed the subject abruptly. Longbottom nodded.

"Great, now we have another traveling buddy," I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it, Malfoy!"

----

"Luna's dead," Longbottom muttered bluntly when we had been walking for a few hours.

"We know," Granger and I said at the same time. I hated when that happened.

"You do?" Longbottom asked, obviously surprised.

"Yeah," I said bluntly. "We got the directions off her dead body."

"Oh," Longbottom said with difficulty. "I thought she gave the directions to you when she was still alive."

"Nope," Ginny said. "How did she die, anyway? She looked pretty messed up."

"It's not a good story," Longbottom said with regret.

"Yeah, well, we're going on a long journey," I said. "What else are we going to talk about?"

"Fine," he gave in with a sigh. "Well, Luna and I were headed to The Blaze together. She said she was afraid of beginning the journey alone. So I reluctantly let her come with me."

"Longbottom, we don't care! Just get to the part where someone pulls her guts out!" I demanded impatiently.

"Whatever happened to 'we're going on a long journey'?" Longbottom snapped. I didn't think he had an ounce of wit in him.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't change the fact that I'm impatient." I remarked.

"Fine," Longbottom rolled his eyes. "Luna and I got to the second cave when some death eaters came. I ran into the back and tried to hide, but Luna was too slow. One of them saw her. He tortured her and then he killed her. Not too interesting."

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Who killed her?" I just knew it was going to be my father.

"I don't know."

"Was it my father?" I asked.

"No," he shook his head. "I'm positive it wasn't."

"And then what? Didn't they search the cave?" Granger asked.

"No," Longbottom said with evident surprise. "They just left. They never looked for anyone else. She said she was alone when they were torturing her."

"How noble," Ginny smiled.

"Well, that's why she's a bloody Gryffindor, isn't it?" I scoffed.

Granger rolled her eyes. "Now, Neville, what's the resting rock?"

"Well, Hermione," he said with a smile. "I think you already know the answer to that."

She bit her lower lip and then she figured it out. She was sitting on the rock with the arrows on it. "We have to go this way," she said, pointing down the path.

"I could've told you that," I said bitterly.

"Yeah, but look," she said. "There are a series of arrows. We have to copy this down."

"Onto what?" I asked.

"Give me that parchment," she snatched the directions out of my hand. "Anyone have a quill?"

Longbottom took one out from under his cloak. Granger carefully copied the arrows onto the parchment. "Make sure they're going the right way," I barked.

"Please, Malfoy," Ron rolled his eyes. "This is Hermione we're talking about here. Since when does she get anything wrong?"

"There's a first time for everything," I raised my eyebrows and smirked.

"Yeah," Granger said, folding the parchment into a small square. "There can be a first time for you to have _trust_ in me for once."

"No," I shook my head. "Malfoys don't trust anyone."

"Still going at that, are you?" She sighed bitterly. "Out here in the middle of nowhere, no one gives a fuck whether you're a Malfoy or not."

I recoiled backwards. It wasn't because of what she said. It was because I had no idea Granger even knew a single dirty word.

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! As for when the romance will start… let's just say that I'm not into rushing things. They're going to argue more and more** **throughout the next several chapters. One thing you might've noticed is all the talk about trust and being a Malfoy and all of that. That's important… it plays a big role in the romance department. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Well, they follow the arrows. And then something shocking happens. Hermione actually gets something wrong? And why does that make Malfoy especially miserable. Let's just say it has nothing to do with the fact that they're lost. REVIEW!**


	9. Kiss and Tell

**Kiss and Tell**

**Hermione Granger**

"Are you sure we're supposed to turn here?" Ron asked me as I made a right into the bushes.

"Well, Ron, that's what the arrows said," I retorted.

"Longbottom, is that where we're supposed to go?" Malfoy asked.

"I, uh…" he stuttered uselessly.

"Come on, Longbottom!" Malfoy huffed. "You should be an expert here!"

"Yeah, well, I…"

"Forget it," Ginny said. "If Hermione said to go this way, I trust her. She's always right about everything."

I smiled. It was nice to know she had faith in me.

----

"Okay, Hermione, I'm sorry, but…" Ginny nervously brushed a strand of red hair behind her ear. "This can't be right."

I felt my stomach sink. We had been following the arrows and we were in the middle of a thick brush.

"Bloody hell, Granger," Malfoy snapped. "Can't you get _anything_ right?"

"Hey, back off, Malfoy," Ron came to my defense like he always did.

"I can fend for myself, Ron," I said a little too harshly.

"Sorry…" he muttered as his ears turned pink.

"Hermione," Neville squeaked. "Hermione, this isn't right. Even though we have weeks and weeks of travel time left, I _know _that we're not supposed to be thrashing about in weeds. We mostly stay on the path."

"Well, well, well," Malfoy clicked his tongue. "What have we got here? Looks like the mudblood actually screwed up for the first time in her pathetic little life."

The words stung. He hadn't called me a mudblood ever since before the attack. Ron jumped up and went to attack Malfoy with his bare hands. Malfoy was too quick for him, though, and punched Ron straight in the nose. "Ow!" There was a sickening crack as Ron's nose started bleeding. It was broken.

"You moron! You stupid, arrogant, mental moron!" Ginny yelled, rushing to her brother's side.

"Nice, Ginny," Malfoy said, feigning being impressed. "I didn't think you would defend me like that. He _is_ your brother, though, so calling him all those names is a tad on the harsh side."

"Ron's not the moron!" She exclaimed. "_You_ are!" And in one swift, unexpected motion, Ginny Weasley stood up, stepped in front of Malfoy, and punched him square in the jaw.

A string of colorful words spewed out of Malfoy's mouth. He held his jaw and the look on his face showed he was in excruciating pain. But even being punched by a girl at least a foot and a half shorter than him didn't erase his arrogance. "Impressive, Ginerva, impressive! I had no idea you packed such a punch. It rival's Granger's slap in the face from our third year."

"I think we're forgetting that we're lost," I said impatiently.

"I think _you're_ forgetting that my nose is gushing blood!" Ron interrupted bitterly.

"Malfoy, give me the wand," I stretched my arm out.

"Not so fast," he slapped my hand away lightly. "The wand is only for emergencies."

"This _is_ an emergency!" Ron exclaimed, resorting to using his robe sleeve as a tissue.

"I hardly think your stupidity counts as an emergency," Malfoy said with his signature smirk. I wanted to wipe that look off his face.

So I did. I balled my right hand into a fist and punched Malfoy's stupid, upturned, pointed nose. "Shit, Granger!" Malfoy held his broken, bleeding nose. I smirked. He thrust the wand at my feet. "Fix it!"

"Hold on," I said with an evil smile. "I think the wand is only for emergencies. Your idiocy hardly qualifies as an emergency."

"You're such a bitch, Granger," Malfoy remarked. "Please, just fix it!"

"Wow, he's actually begging for mercy, Hermione," Neville said with a chuckle.

"DAMN IT, GRANGER! I SAVED YOUR LIFE AT LEAST THREE TIMES! JUST FIX MY GODDAMN NOSE!"

"Not the whole I-saved-your-life-three-times-so-you-owe-me-one thing again, Malfoy," I shook my head. "That won't work for me."

"Then what bloody will?" He asked, bewildered.

"Well, for starters, you have to promise not to call me a mudblood again. And you have to stop saying 'Malfoys don't do this or that.' And you have to apologize to all of us for being such a git. And you have to—"

"Forget it," he muttered bitterly. "I'll live with a broken nose. I'm not going to do any of that."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I muttered the healing curse and fixed Ron's nose.

And as an after thought, I muttered it and pointed the wand in Malfoy's direction. He might be an asshole, but no one deserved to walk around with a bleeding, mangled nose. I also felt a little bad for punching him like that… though I still felt he deserved it. I expected him to thank me. Did he? Of course not! "Damn it, why the hell did you do that?"

I gaped at him. "Malfoy, I just fixed your nose! The least you can do it apologize!"

"We've been over this, Granger. Malfoys don't apologize."

I groaned with annoyance. "I can't believe you!" I threw my hands up in the air. "All I try to do is be a nice person and all I get in return is more nastiness on your part!"

"Malfoy's don't do _nice_, Granger. Get that through your thick head. Or maybe you can't—on account of that tangled mess you call hair is blocking your brain!"

"Look, let's just stop fighting, okay?" Neville suggested meekly. "We need to get back to the resting rock and recheck the arrows."

We all dropped the subject at hand and retraced our steps.

----

"All it took was one stupid arrow to mess the entire thing up," I shook my head. "Right here I drew it as a left arrow instead of a straight arrow."

We all checked the rock and the parchment several times. When we were positive it was right, we decided to set up camp for the night. We wasted a day of traveling time, but we were all too tired to try and continue some more.

I started another small, muggle fire in a pit I made by dragging some large rocks in a circle. Ron helped me with the rocks, but he was useless at starting a fire. I did that myself.

We all found that sleep never came easily—even when you were exhausted.

"Hermione, do or tell?" Ginny asked with boredom tracing her voice.

"Not that again," I groaned. Then I remembered that I didn't get stuck with anything _too_ terrible last time. Ginny wasn't very good at coming up with truths… so how good would her dares be?

"Come _on_!" Ginny pleaded.

"Alright, fine," I took a deep breath. "Do."

The smile that appeared on Ginny's face was something that scared me. I had never seen her look like that before, and I actually was afraid of what she was going to make me do. She whispered something into Ron's ear, and he said, "No way, Gin! You can't make her do that! It's _wrong_!"

"Never mind him, Hermione. You picked 'do,' so you're going to have to do it." She smiled. I winced. "Kiss him," she said simply.

"Ron?" I asked with disgust. "Ew, that's just _wrong_! He's practically my brother!"

"No, no, no," Ginny said, shaking her head. "Not Ron, Hermione. That would be wishful thinking." She chuckled. "Kiss Malfoy."

I stared at her with shock. I couldn't find the words to say. But Malfoy sure did find plenty. "What the hell is wrong with you, Weaselette? Are you out of your bloody mind? You want me to kiss that _filth_? That's an insult to my blood! It's disgusting! It's foul and wrong and utterly insane!"

"Who cares what _you_ have to say!" Ginny said. "Hermione has to do it!"

I shook my head, "I won't." I said firmly, crossing my arms over my chest. "It's disgusting. There's no way I'm touching my lips to _his_."

"_You_ think it's disgusting?" He asked angrily. "It's ten times _worse_ for me! You'll be kissing a pureblood! You got the better half of the deal, Granger. If I were you, I'd be dying to kiss me!"

"You are the most arrogant person I have ever met in my life!" I exclaimed. "Not every girl on the planet wants to kiss you!"

"That's not true," Malfoy said, leaning dangerously close to my face. "Every girl alive _except_ you would kill to be in your position. What makes you so different? Why aren't you jumping onto my lap right now?"

I looked away uncomfortably. He had a point. Every girl _did_ want to kiss him. Why didn't I? And then I thought about what he said about him having to kiss a mudblood. He was so disgusted that he would have to kiss me simply because I wasn't a pureblood.

For that reason alone, I decided to go through with the dare. If he didn't make such a big fuss over the fact that I was muggle-born, I wouldn't have done it.

His face was already close to mine. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and leaned forward. Somehow, his lips found mine and I stiffened when they met. The kiss lasted for merely a second or two, and neither of us touched the other. My hands remained behind my back, and his were at his side.

"I can't believe you made me do that!" I scolded Ginny while I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

She returned my comment with a laugh and a smile. "Oh, come off it, Hermione! That was bloody hilarious!"

"No it wasn't!" Ron interjected. "I think I'm going to be sick!"

"_You_ think you're going to be sick?" Malfoy asked. I sighed, knowing what was coming. "_You_ didn't just kiss a mudblood!"

"Come on, Malfoy! It couldn't have been _that_ bad!" Neville remarked.

"Oh, yeah, Longbottom, I'll assure you it was. That was the most disgusting experience in my life and I hope it _never_ happens again."

"I think I'll second that," I said. I was close to hurling. My head was spinning, my heart was pounding, and my breathing was shallow. I turned away from everyone else and tried to regain my composure. I didn't want to them to see me throw up.

"Oh, please, Granger," Malfoy rolled his eyes. "I'll bet you secretly _loved_ it."

"Um, no!" I exclaimed. "It was horrible!"

"It couldn't be _nearly_ as bad as what _I_ had to go through!" Malfoy argued.

"I still don't think it was _too_ terrible, Malfoy," Neville insisted.

"If you don't think it would be so bad, why don't _you_ kiss her?" He retorted angrily. I saw him spitting on the ground and wiping his mouth repeatedly. "I don't think I'll ever feel clean again," he muttered.

"Is that a dare, Malfoy?" Ginny asked slyly. I couldn't believe how much she seemed to enjoy this!

"Yes, it is. Longbottom, you have to kiss Granger," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, come on!" I groaned. "Why are you doing this to me?" I asked angrily.

"Because it's torturing you," he said simply. "Maybe kissing Longbottom will give you a taste of how terrible it was for me to kiss you."

"Look, I don't want to play, alright?" I snapped.

"Do you think _I_ wanted to kiss _you_?" he asked incredulously. "It's a game, Granger! You're just mad because after kissing _me_, kissing _him_ will feel like kissing air," he said egotistically.

"You're such a conceited bastard, Malfoy!" I said, rising from my seat and going over to where Neville was. I kissed him quickly, and then turned and sat back on my rock.

Malfoy looked at Neville curiously, "Well…?"

"It wasn't _that_ bad, Malfoy," Neville reported. I blushed.

Malfoy chuckled. "Maybe it's because all you'd ever kissed was that toad of yours. I've kissed all the girls in our year in Slytherin. And one or two Ravenclaws. I never touched a Hufflepuff," he made a disgusted face. "And now, one Gryffindor mudblood can be added to that list. So for you, kissing Granger might've seemed great. But to me… it wasn't anything special. It was revolting, really."

Neville looked both angry and embarrassed. "I've kissed girls before, Malfoy," he said dangerously.

"Really?" Ron asked, surprised. Ginny smacked the back of his head. "Er, I mean, no offense or anything, but…"

"It's okay," Neville said. "I'm used to it. Who would want to kiss clumsy, stupid, inadequate Neville Longbottom?"

Ron's ears turned pink. "I, uh…"

Neville ignored him. "I've kissed Luna, Parvati, and Lavender."

"_Lavender Brown_?" Ron asked, his eyes wide.

I giggled. "Oh, Ron, it's okay, I know you fancied her."

"What do you mean _fancied_?" Ron asked. "I still do!"

Ginny and I both looked uncomfortable. "She's uh," I started but couldn't finish.

"Dead," Ginny said bluntly. She made it seem so final.

Ron looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," we both nodded.

"Wow," he breathed. "I never… I never told her…" Ron quietly got up and walked toward the stream.

I shook my head. "There are so many things we never got the chance to do. There are so many things we all wanted to say. I never got to tell Harry good luck."

"I never got to see my father's reaction to the fact that I'm not a death eater anymore," Malfoy added.

I took the chance to slip away and console Ron. He tried to hide the fact that he was crying.

"It's okay, Ron," I said. "I'm sure she knew that you cared about her."

"No," he shook his head. "I got to kiss her once and all I did was brag about it. She thought I used her."

I didn't know what to say. I hugged Ron and we sat down by the edge of the stream. "There were so many things I wanted to say to people," I said. "And now I'll never get the chance."

For the first time, I think it truly hit home that we were leaving the world and never going back.

**Author's Notes: Well, this chapter certainly was eventful, to say the least. I'm extremely proud of that chapter. It's one of my favorites, I think. I wanted their first kiss to be awkward and I wanted them both to hate it… and Ginny's stupid game was the only way I thought I could do that. MISTAKES! I realized when I was re-reading chapter 8 that I said Luna was in Gryffindor. She's not… she's a Ravenclaw. Oops. Two people pointed that out, too, so thanks! And thanks to whoever corrected my spelling of "Zabini." For some reason, the automatic spell checker was changing it to "Zambini." So I fixed that. Please review! The next chapter needs some work… it probably will come out in two-three days. I wanted to get this up quickly because I was proud of myself. But it's 5 pages, so it'll hold you. **


	10. Different

**Different**

**Draco Malfoy**

Kissing Granger wasn't as horrible as I made it seem. Maybe that's why I played it up to be this awful, revolting experience. I was shocked that kissing her wasn't as bad as I expected it to be in that moment before our lips met. Sure, I've had better kisses, but she wasn't _that_ horrendous.

But what I couldn't believe was that she wasn't jumping at the chance to kiss me! I mean, really… all the girls in every house and of every year wanted a chance to get that three second kiss that Granger got. I was surprised she didn't treasure it.

But whatever. The kiss meant nothing to me… and by the looks of it, nothing to her, either. So we all went to sleep not too long after the whole game ordeal. Everyone slept sort of far away from each other. Except, of course, for Granger and the Weasels. Seriously… how the hell does Weasel get all the girls? Given that one of the ones cuddling up next to him was his sister, but still! Why on earth does Granger go for _him_? Not only is he _ugly_, but he's stupid. Honestly… Ron Weasley is the dumbest wizard I have ever had the displeasure to be in classes with. Except for Neville Longbottom, who happens to be gracing all of us with _his_ presence, too!

I am stuck with the worst possible people for the rest of my life. My only hope is that Blaise Zabini will already be at The Blaze when we get there. He already had a head start.

----

"Get up, Malfoy!" Granger hissed at me while kicking my leg.

"Goddamn it, Granger!" I groaned, rolling over onto my back.

"Oh, sorry. Does your mummy always stroke your head and whisper nice things to you in order to wake you? Does she give you five extra minutes if you whine?" Granger spat. She was being particularly nasty to me that day… most likely because of the whole kiss thing.

I grumbled something incomprehensible and unwillingly stood up. I glared at Granger and shoved past her. If she was going to treat me like crap, I'd return the favor.

We walked down the path again. We knew that we would have to travel for almost a month. It was going to be boring, difficult, and tiring. We would be running on hardly any sleep or food.

"I sometimes wonder if this is the right thing to do," Granger whispered, as though she was reading my thoughts. "I mean… shouldn't I be with Harry? Why aren't I by his side helping him fight?"

"Because you'd be killed," I said bluntly. "Voldermort would kill you in a second. In the past years, he's pumped my father for information on you. In turn, my father would grill _me_ about you."

"What did you tell him?" Ron asked dangerously.

"I told him about Granger's brains… her grades, her classes, her skill at picking up new tasks. And obviously, her bloodlines," I said. "Voldermort was threatened by Granger… he said he'd finish her off as soon as the chance arose. But the day of the attack… he missed."

"He'll figure out that I'm alive, though," she said slowly. "He'll try and find me eventually."

"Probably," I admitted. "And he's looking for me, too. I let him down. I betrayed him. And, of course, my father will want to kill me with his bare hands for helping you."

"Then we can't let them find us," Ginny said bravely.

----

"I think we should split up," Longbottom suggested. "Some of us could go find food and others could build the fire and some places to rest near it."

"Alright," Ginny nodded. "I'll go with you, Neville."

"I'll go with Hermione," Ron spoke up quickly.

"I guess I should go with you too," I said. "We'll get the food."

"Fine," Granger said.

And so, Ron dragged Granger off into the woods and I had to follow. Longbottom and Ginny went off in the other direction.

"What _is_ there to eat around here, anyway?" I asked.

"Berries," Granger said simply.

"'Moine, I think Malfoy wants to know what _food_ there is around here," Weasley said. I refrained laughter.

"Ron, berries _are_ food," Granger persisted. "They're edible."

"Just because something is edible doesn't mean I want to eat it," Weasley explained.

"Yeah," I agreed. "People are edible, but I don't exactly want to take a bite out of your arm, Granger."

She glared at me. "Malfoy, that's called _cannibalism_ and it's pretty much completely socially unacceptable."

"Precisely," I agreed. Then I spotted a bush with large red berries growing on it. "Are those okay to eat?"

"I don't know," Weasley said, picking one. "I say Malfoy should try it, and if he dies, we'll know not to eat them."

"Very funny," I muttered.

Granger picked a berry and popped it into her mouth. "Hermione!" Weasley exclaimed, grabbing her shoulders. "Spit it out!"

"Relax, Ron," she said, swallowing the contents in her mouth. "It's a thimbleberry."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive," she said, picking another. "My grandmother used to have them growing in her yard. She had a little garden of them in there. And every summer when I spend a few weeks at her house, I would pick them and eat them right from the bush, and—"

"Spare us your treasured family memories, Granger," I interrupted. Both of them glared at me.

We picked some thimbleberries or whatever and then found some blueberries. "Eating berries all the time is pretty boring," I remarked when we had pockets filled with the fruit.

"Yeah, well, what do _you_ suggest?" Weasley snapped.

"We can fish," Granger suggested.

"Oh, yeah, right," I said sarcastically. "With what wand?"

"You can fish without a wand," she said, reaching for a stick that was on the ground.

About ten minutes later, Granger had taken a stick, some string-like plant fibers, a rock, and a dead bug and walked to the stream. "What the bloody hell is that?" Weasley asked with wide eyes.

"What are you going to use _that_ for?" I demanded.

"To catch fish," she said simply.

Neither of us believed her, but she surprised us. She threw the end with the rock and the dead bug into the water and waited. "How long does it take?" I asked bitterly.

"In fishing, patience is pretty much the first thing you need," she responded.

I rolled my eyes and thought, _Malfoys aren't patient_.

But several minutes later, a tiny little fish was on the end of the rock. She flung the stick backwards quickly, and the fish landed behind her. "Wow, Granger, that really is going to feed an army," I snorted. The fish was smaller than my largest finger.

"It's bait, Malfoy. I'll stick it on the end of this and another fish will eat it," she explained.

"Isn't that like cannibalism?" I asked, utterly confused.

She didn't glare at me as usual. Instead, she laughed. It wasn't the hollow, fake laugh she had displayed several times since the attack. It was a real, sincere laugh that made her brown eyes sparkle.

Ew. Why did I think that?

Moving on, after she laughed at me, she explained that fish can eat other fish without it being considered cannibalistic. I pretended to understand the concept. Meanwhile, she had thrown the stick back into the water. While she was telling me all about various species of fish and what they eat, she caught another fish. A bigger one.

"Now _that_'s a fish!" I complimented, examining it. "It's a trout," I said happily.

"Trout and thimbleberries," Weasley said enthusiastically. "This is almost like Thanksgiving!"

We brought the fish back to the camp area Longbottom and Ginny set up. The dragged some large rocks into a circle and started a fire in the center. Then they pulled three logs over to the area and set them up around the fire.

Granger sat next to Ron, Ginny and Longbottom shared a log, and I sat alone on the last one. When everyone saw the fish, they were ecstatic and got to work roasting it over the fire right away.

"Wow, this is really good," Ginny said as she ate her piece of trout.

Everyone murmured in agreement. We hadn't had meat in what seemed like forever. It was funny that something to simple was so extravagant here in the woods. We took so many things for granted, I realized.

I always knew I was spoiled… but I never thought I would see the day when I would be sitting on a log eating the smallest piece of trout with my bare hands and no plate. I never, ever imagined that I'd be in this situation.

There was still a little bit of daylight left, so I decided to go find a lake where I could swim. I felt disgusting… just taking a dip in some water might help me feel better.

"I'm going to go swimming," I said as I rose from my seat.

"Good idea, I want to come, too," Granger said.

"I'm too full," Ron muttered, holding his stomach. "I'll throw up if I have to exercise."

"I'd better stay with him," Ginny nodded her head in her brother's direction.

"I can't swim," Longbottom admitted.

"Suit yourselves," Granger said under her breath.

We walked in silence along the stream. It had to end up by a lake eventually. After several minutes of walking, we heard rushing water. "Is that a waterfall?" Granger asked hopefully. I shrugged.

"It is! Look!" She practically jumped up and down when she saw the cliff ahead of us. We walked to the edge and saw the deep, clear, blue lake beneath us.

I threw my Slytherin robes on the ground and started to unbutton my shirt. Granger threw me a look of disgust. "You're not taking off your _shirt_, are you?"

"Yes, I am," I declared. "Do you have a problem with that? I don't want to get my only shirt wet."

"Yes, I have a problem with it. I don't need to see you half naked," she cringed.

"I don't understand you, Granger!" I laughed. "Everyone except you wants to see me _completely_ naked."

"Well I don't need to see you even _partially_ so."

"Then don't bloody look," I snapped as I tossed my shirt on the ground. She found a spot on the ground that must've been completely fascinating. "You're not wearing _your_ clothes in the water, are you?" I asked as I took off my pants. I had my Slytherin boxer shorts on, anyway.

"Well, I'm leaving my shirt on!" She informed me.

"Good," I said with an exaggerated sigh. "I don't want to see you naked, Granger."

"Yeah right," she scoffed. "You're a _guy_. All guys want to see all girls naked, regardless if they _like_ them or not."

"That's true," I admitted with a sly smile. She rolled her eyes. We both kicked off our shoes and stood near the edge.

"Can you dive?" She asked without looking at me.

"Of course," I said.

"Good, because it would hurt if you didn't," she said, looking down. Then she backed up, took a running start, and did a perfect dive off the edge of the cliff.

"Wow," I heard her breathe when she came up for air.

I dove into the water and was amazed at its clarity. The only negative thing about the lake was the water temperature. It was freezing. Granger floated around on her back for a little while.

"Hey, Granger," I smirked.

"What?" She asked bitterly.

"I can see right through your shirt," I said obnoxiously.

She glared at me, glanced down at herself, and dipped her body further into the water. As an afterthought, she wrapped her robe around her tightly. "You git!" she scolded loudly.

"You should've taken it off," I continued. "It's the only shirt you have and it's soaking wet."

"There's no way I'd take my shirt off in front of you!"

"You really are different from every other girl I'd ever met, Granger."

**Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews everyone! And sorry about skipping the chapter spoiler! I don't know what I was thinking. Let me get that out of the way now: NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Can you say "water fight?" I know it's clichéd… but… it's funny. And why is Hermione wearing Slytherin robes? But it's not all fun and games when they have to start traveling again. Because forgetting to demolish your old campsites can have complicated consequences. Review, please! **


	11. Silent Incantations

**Silent Incantations**

**Hermione Granger**

Malfoy made it sound like being different from every other girl alive was a _bad_ thing.

"And you really are a git," I remarked.

"Well, at least I'm a _sensible_ one. Your clothes are going to take a while to dry while you're _wearing_ them. You're going to have to take them off eventually," he retorted.

"Can't you think about anything _besides_ me removing my clothes?"

He looked as though he was seriously considering it. "No. I'm a _guy_, remember?"

I rolled my eyes and splashed him. "Oh, is that how you want it to be, Granger?" He asked with a smirk.

Before I knew what was coming, he dunked me under the water. I came to the surface coughing, sputtering, and angry. "Malfoy!" I yelled. "I'm going to get you for that!"

"Oh, really?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Really," I declared.

"You're weak, Granger," he smirked. He began to swim in the direction of the waterfall, and I lagged behind. He was a much stronger swimmer than I was.

I put my arms out to try and dunk him (which I knew there was no possible way I was strong enough to do, but it didn't hurt to try), but Malfoy was too quick and he grabbed my arms.

I struggled to get away as he pulled me close to him. He knew it would bother me to be within three feet of him, so his idea of angering me was to press himself up against me. Then he suddenly pushed me away from him abruptly and I found myself under the waterfall's stream.

"Damn it!" I cursed, touching my drenched hair. Malfoy laughed at me.

"I told you you're weak," he smirked. I glared at him.

I got out of the water and found that I was freezing cold. There was a little bit of a breeze, and with the fact that I was soaking wet added in there, I was shivering.

"Aw, is little baby Granger cold?" Malfoy asked, getting out of the water behind me.

"Yes," I glared at him. "Because of _you_."

He smirked and we climbed up the hill to the top where I slipped back into my shoes. "Take your robe off," he said. It was more of an order than a suggestion.

"No," I said, wrapping it around myself tighter.

"Granger, wearing a wet robe isn't going to help you get warm," he reached out to me and slipped it off. I crossed my arms self consciously. "Wear mine," he tossed his Slytherin robes over my shoulders.

"Aren't you afraid I'll dirty it up?" I asked bitterly.

"God, Granger, I gave you my robe to wear. The least you can do is _thank_ me."

I blushed. "Thanks."

"No problem," he smirked. "I can't wait to see what Weasley has to say when I bring you back wearing Slytherin robes."

I groaned.

"I must say, though, Granger, that you do look most becoming in them," he smirked.

I glared at him again. I usually did that when I couldn't think up a witty response to his comments.

As expected, Ron gave us an earful when we returned. "Hermione! Take those off!" He demanded with a horrified tone in his voice.

"Gods, Weasley, you're worse than _me_! At least I _asked_ her if she wanted to get naked," Malfoy said.

Ron looked horrified. "I went swimming with all my clothes on, Ron," I informed him. "That's why I'm wearing Malfoy's robe."

Ron looked visibly relaxed by these words.

I hung my wet robe on a low tree branch and gave Malfoy back his robe. I didn't want to wear it longer than I had to. "I'm surprised you don't want to keep it," he smirked. "None of the girls who've worn my clothes ever gave them back."

"Yeah, well, it's the only one you've got," I replied.

"True enough, I guess," he muttered.

----

That was easily one of the best traveling days. We ate a generally good meal and had a good time.

The next day was not so good. We were walking down the path and following the arrows. For the most part, we just stayed straight on the path. However, whenever there was a fork in the road, we had to turn according to the arrows.

Maybe I should explain the path. It wasn't paved or anything… it was usually just vaguely there. For the most part, we were walking over weeds that were bent over. There wasn't even gravel or sand to make it easier on our feet. Occasionally, the plant life would be dead and there would be dusty dirt beneath our feet.

"Did you hear that?" Malfoy snapped his head to the right. We all imitated him, but no one made it obvious that they agreed with him.

"What?" I asked.

"Shh!" he hissed, putting a finger to his lips.

Then I heard it, too. It sounded like someone was walking through the thick brush. It was my day for the wand, so I dug through my pockets and gripped it tightly.

Then a figure emerged through the brush. I didn't know whether to stun the person immediately, or wait until they attacked. I chose to wait.

"Draco?" The figure said, looking at Malfoy with surprise. "I had no idea _you_ were involved in this, too."

"Mr. Zabini, I'm not sure what you mean," Malfoy said slyly.

"Oh, Draco, don't play innocent with me. I know you're going to meet Blaise in that 'Flame' or whatever that he's involved with."

"Actually, sir, we—" I began

"Shut up!" Zabini's father barked angrily. "I know you all know something about this organization, and I want you to bring me there! And Draco, your father is growing angrier by the second. He knows you're escaping into the woods and he is organizing a search party. You should be ashamed of what you're doing. Hanging around with these two blood traitors and the mudblood and _him_! I don't know what—"

He fell silent. "Way to go, Granger," Malfoy said approvingly, eyeing my hand with the wand. "Using silent incantations is a brilliant thing," he said. "I wish I mastered it better while we were in school."

"It's no use for you here, though," Ron remarked.

"Yeah, but still."

"We'd better get moving."

----

"Mr. Zabini called it 'The Flame,'" I said with stifled laughter.

"I wonder how he found out about it," Neville said.

"Just because it's supposedly a 'legend' doesn't mean it's a big secret," Malfoy pointed out. "Maybe he heard of it when he was in school and now he's hearing whispers of it again."

"Whatever," I said. "His other comments worried me more."

"What? Like the whole 'my father's planning a search party' thing?" Malfoy asked.

I nodded. "Your father's not stupid. If he's serious about this, he'll find you."

"I suppose that's true," Malfoy admitted.

"And then we're all screwed," Ginny remarked bitterly. "Thanks, Malfoy!" she praised sarcastically.

"Look, it's hardly _my _fault that my father wants to hunt me like an animal!"

"Oh, right," Ron rolled his eyes. "I suppose it's no one's fault at all."

"It really isn't," Malfoy insisted.

"Can we stop worrying about what's yet to happen?" I persisted, "and worry about where we're going next?"

"Since when has that changed?" Neville asked. "We're following this path until there's no where left to go."

"I guess you're right," I admitted, pocketing the wand once more.

**Author's Note: Thanks for being patient! That was the longest I think I ever took to update: 4 days. I suppose that isn't all that bad. Well, thanks for all the reviews! NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Ginny has a secret she never told anyone, and it's something that's making her sick. You may have noticed how strange she's been acting in these past chapters… well, there's a reason. Now she must tell everyone about her secret and request help. But Malfoy's got the wand this time… and he won't give her the wand without getting something in return. That asshole!**


	12. Toxic

**Toxic**

**Ginny Weasley**

I knew this would happen. It's precisely the reason I didn't want to run away. It's also the reason I tried to run away from the first cave alone. It's also the reason I can't handle being out here… why I act so much unlike myself.

I can't believe Ron and Hermione aren't noticing. I'm not being my usual, chatty self… and if I am, I'm talking about the strangest things. I can't control it… and it's killing me.

You see… I'm not nearly as much of a goody-goody as everyone thinks I am. That's right… Ginny Weasley, the Gryffindor good girl smokes cigarettes. Yeah, yeah… surprising, I _know_. I tried to quit once, but I couldn't.

When did this start? My fourth year, when things with the Order were starting to get serious. I started feeling stressed out, under pressure, unsure of myself and future for the first time.

And I was real careful about not getting caught, too. So for two years, I was a not-quite-a-pack-a-day smoker. They were mostly muggle cigarettes, which were really easy to get since no muggles knew who I was. I would get a large box of them at a time and charm them to look like socks while I was at home and at school. I would perform a simple spell and they would become the cigarettes again.

You might wonder how I got away with this. Well, let me assure you, I wasn't the first student to think of this. I wasn't the _only_ one, either. Most people would sneak outside at night to smoke, but I did it in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom after classes. There were a few occasions where I would go outside, but that wasn't very often. I was too afraid someone would see me.

I'm sure all of this is very surprising, but let me assure you that I harbor a lot of secrets. Little Ginny Weasley is hardly as innocent and sweet as most people want to believe.

But coming to The Blaze presented a problem: no cigarettes. The addiction and withdrawal were so terrible that I was having mood swings and headaches. I knew there was a simple spell that would detoxify my body from all the substances that shouldn't be there, but I couldn't tell them I needed the wand for _that_. And besides, the spell could take up to a week, depending on how bad your insides were. And it was risky, too… only experienced medi-witches should do it.

"Are you alright, Gin?" Ron asked good-naturedly. I knew he was only trying to show concern, but I snapped at him.

"Yes, Ron, I'm bloody wonderful!" I yelled bitterly.

"Okay, Ginny, calm down!" Hermione said softly.

"You want _me_ to calm down! You have no idea what I'm going through, Hermione!"

This got some raised eyebrows. "Just what _are_ you going through?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

I bit my lip, not wanting to answer.

"I thought you were acting strange lately, Gin," Neville admitted. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" I insisted. "I'm fine! Why can't you just drop it!"

"You usually aren't this snappy, Gin."

"I'm not snappy, Ron! I'm fine!"

"I think I know what's going on," Malfoy said slowly.

"You don't know anything about me!" I yelled. Taking this out on them felt so good, even though I knew it was wrong. It was exactly like me and the smoking… I knew it wasn't healthy or smart, but I did it anyway.

"Weasley, I saw you once, out by the lake. You were—"

"Shut up!" I interrupted. "Don't make things up!"

"What was she doing?" Ron asked with interest.

"She was smoking," Malfoy said the words I really dreaded.

"Ginny!" Ron yelled. "Is that true?"

"Of course not!" I said, glaring convincingly at Malfoy. They all looked intently at me, so I slouched over and muttered, "Okay, maybe it's true…"

"I can't believe this!" Ron exploded. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you know how many people _die_ from that? Where did you even get them? Who the bloody hell sold them to you? I'm going to bloody _kill_ them!"

"Ron, calm down," Hermione pleaded. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," he said after taking a deep breath. "Look, Gin, it doesn't matter. I know you're going through withdrawal, and I know you need help."

"We could do that detoxification spell…" Neville suggested meekly.

"We could," Hermione said. "It's not _that_ hard… I saw Madam Pomfrey perform it on a Hufflepuff when I was in the infirmary once. Hey, Malfoy, you've got the wand, right?"

"Yeah…" he said slowly.

"Alright, then, hand it over."

"Not so fast," Malfoy said, pushing her hand away. "I'm tired of doing people favors. What will I get out of this?"

"You're such a jerk, Malfoy!" Ron said angrily. "My sister is having killer headaches and mood swings and you want to know what _you'll_ get in return for helping her?"

"That's right," he nodded.

Hermione groaned. "Look, just… what do you want?"

Malfoy smirked evilly. "You're going to regret asking that, Granger."

Hermione visibly cringed. "It doesn't matter. Within reason, whatever it is, you'll get it. Ginny needs that spell."

I inwardly smiled at Hermione's selflessness. She was the best friend anyone could ask for.

"Alright," Malfoy said with that same, arrogant smirk gracing his lips. "I think a kiss will do it."

"Excuse me?" I asked, scowling.

"A kiss, from Granger," he said.

"You're sick," Hermione said. "Think of something else."

"I hardly see how that's not within reason. I haven't been with a girl in over a week," Malfoy whined.

"I refuse to be your Pansy Parkinson!" Hermione said.

"I see how it is," Malfoy said quietly. "You'd rather let your friend suffer than give me one, little, meaningless kiss. And you dare to call _me_ selfish, Granger."

Hermione looked at the ground. She was having a mental debate. Should she stick to her morals or help me? I felt like I should say something, but my migraine was killing me.

And then, like the loyal Gryffindor she was, Hermione walked closer to Malfoy and took a deep breath. He grabbed her waist unexpectedly, making her flinch. This only seemed to make him happier—he was fueled by her discomfort and anger. He really was a complete jerk. Then he pressed his lips up against hers and proceeded to kiss her for a very long time. I think they both got caught up in the moment. She could've _easily_ pulled away at any given time, but she didn't.

Ron cleared his throat loudly, making them jump apart. Hermione looked at the ground with embarrassment and Malfoy smirked with satisfaction. Then he handed the wand to Hermione without another word.

**Author's Note: I hope that wasn't too unrealistic for you all. I think I backed up her reasons and everything, though. I just wanted to show another side of Ginny that isn't all cotton candy and ice cream… her rebellious side gets important later. And besides, the whole kiss thing had to come about eventually… it's working out better having them do it against their will(s). For those of you who ask when they get to The Blaze… be patient! They said it would take almost a month, remember? I'm trying to speed things up a bit (the really good/big things happen once they arrive), but I don't want you all to just blink and suddenly they're there. To firedarkness, they aren't using wandless magic… she used the wand without saying words out loud. Hermione Charlotte Granger—I'm not sure if they'll find other wands yet. I'm still debating over this one. Sayaku-chan, I hope you work through whatever problems you're having… I really miss reading your story! NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Hermione reflects on the kiss, talks about their schedule… it's not the most eventful chapter. Or is it? NOTICE: I wanted to let you all know that I came up with an idea for a new story… DM/HG, of course, and it's going to be posted when this one finishes up. But that won't happen for a while, don't worry. I would give you a brief summary, but I think I'll wait a few chapters for that. REVIEW, please!**


	13. Fire

**Fire**

**Hermione Granger**

I can't believe Ginny never confided in me that she smoked. Actually, I _can_, because I totally understand that it's not something you want to flaunt.

What I _really_ can't believe is how much of a bastard Malfoy is being. Well, that's not completely shocking, either, but lately it's gotten worse. The whole kiss thing was just downright appalling! I couldn't believe his selfishness… wait, actually, I could. But still… part of me wondered _why_ he really wanted me to kiss him. Was it really because he didn't get kissed in eleven days? I could hardly classify that as a crisis; before Ginny's dare, it had been _months_ since my previous kiss. But why kiss _me_? He thought I was revolting, disgusting, and a _mudblood_. Why kiss me? I decided to confront him on the matter later.

Anyway, we walked for two days without sleeping. It was pretty much our schedule, now. We would snack on things we came across and stop to rest only occasionally for two days. We would set up a camp and bathe and cook and sleep every two days. It worked out alright for us.

"How many days have we been out here?" Ron asked suddenly. We were walking at this point.

"Uh… I don't know," Ginny said with her head tilted to the side.

"Thirteen," Malfoy and I said at the same time.

"At least _some_ people have brains," Neville said.

"Speaking of brains, it would make sense to stop. If we're going to stick to our little schedule," I pointed out.

"Alright, fine," Neville said. "Ron and Ginny and I will set things up. Can you and Malfoy handle the food without killing each other?"

"Yes," I said. When Ron opened his mouth to argue I said, "I'll be fine, Ron."

When we walked into the woods and away from everyone else, I said, "Why did you want the kiss from me, anyway?"

"I already told you, Granger," he said with a sigh. "I haven't had any action in over a week. When you said you'd do _anything_ for the wand, it was only obvious what I wanted."

"Come on, though," I insisted. "I'm a _vulgar_ _mudblood_, why would you want to put yourself through the torture?"

"It was either you or Ginny. And I happen to find smoking _most_ unattractive. And besides, she's a year younger than us… and she's much less _developed_, Granger."

I looked disgusted at his last comment and his smirk. "I _do_ hope you mean that by means of mentally and maturity."

He only smirked at me in return.

"I still think there's more to this," I insisted.

"Oh," he said slowly and softly. "I get it. You thought I _liked_ you or something, didn't you?" he asked carefully.

"No!" I answered a little too quickly. "No. That's not it at all."

Inside, though, I kind of _did_ think maybe he liked me. And I had no idea in the world _why_ it bothered me that he didn't… but it did.

He just raised his eyebrows at me looked at me with his head tilted. I expected him to say more, but he didn't.

"There are only three kinds of berries around here," I remarked after a moment of silence. "Blueberries, raspberries, and these," I pointed to a bush with pinkish purple berries on it.

"I am _so_ sick of berries," Malfoy said. "Come on," he dragged me off in another direction.

"Where are we going?" I asked, pulling my arm away from him.

"We're going to find us some _real_ food."

"Where do you suppose we'll do that?" I asked bitterly. "There's nothing here we can _kill_!"

"No, see, Granger," he said, turning to face me, "that's where you're wrong."

I shrugged and followed him. He walked through weeds and we crossed two streams.

"Malfoy, where—"

He clasped a large hand over my mouth. "Shh," he ordered.

There was a deer several feet away from us. It was tiny… a baby, no doubt, and Malfoy had his eye on it. I shook my head violently. "No, you can't," my voice was muffled due to his hand pressed against it.

"Shh!" he ordered again, using his free hand to find a stick. He found one with a decent point on it and looked at me quickly. "Keep quiet," he said before removing his hand.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand before licking my chapped lips. I didn't want him to kill the deer. I didn't want him to even _consider_ it. But desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose. No one can live off plants and berries and the occasional—but quite rare, now—fish.

I turned away from him, not wanting to see him stab the poor creature. There was an inhuman sound and I turned to see Malfoy with the dead deer dragging behind him. I winced. "I don't think I can eat that.

"Oh, come on, Granger, you know you're starving."

It was true. I was beyond starving. I wondered if I would ever get to eat real food again.

"Deer is a delicacy in most foreign countries, you know," he smirked.

"Yeah, well, we're not _in_ another country."

"We might as well be…"

After crossing the first stream, I realized that it was getting dark. We'd taken too much time getting food. We walked in the darkness before it was evident that we were totally lost.

"Malfoy…?"

"What?" he snapped.

"We're lost."

"I _know_."

"Can you see their fire?"

"No, can you?"

"No," I said nervously. "What if we don't find them again?"

"Then I guess we'll have to go on without them."

"But we don't have the wand! Neville's got it today!" I said anxiously.

"That's the least of our worries," he told me. "We don't have the directions."

I smiled, happy that _something_ would work out at least. "No, Malfoy, I memorized them."

"Fine, then, we'll just sleep over here for the night, eat some berries, and catch up with them tomorrow," he suggested.

"Fine."

I sat on the ground. Surprisingly, Malfoy didn't sit five feet away from me. He sat beside me and looked at me for a moment without saying anything. I twitched uncomfortably under his gaze.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Nothing."

I rolled my eyes and looked away for a moment. I could still feel his eyes burning a hole through my head. I turned to look at him and he looked away. "_What_?" I hissed.

"What?"

I gave a frustrated groan and pulled at my hair so it fell in front of my face.

"You've stopped being so horrible toward me, Granger," Malfoy said.

I was glad my hair was blocking my face. "Don't look at _me_! _You_ haven't insulted me in days."

"Only because _you_ didn't provoke me," he said. "See how it could've worked back in Hogwarts? If you only acted civil toward me, I wouldn't have to torment you."

I shook my head. "That's not true. Even if I _didn't_ do anything, you would've bothered me. You seem to enjoy it."

He laughed. "I suppose," he paused. "You know, Granger, it's hard to talk to someone when you can't see them." He reached out and brushed some of my hair behind my right ear. I lifted my hand to sweep the rest away and his hand brushed against mine and he dropped it to his side. Why were things so awkward between us now?

"Who says I want to talk to you?" I asked coldly.

"Getting a little defensive, are we, Granger?" he asked with his signature smirk.

"Only because you're being a git!" I defended.

"I hardly see where that happened," he muttered. "I was fixing your hair!"

"See, exactly!" I exclaimed. "You touched me. I don't want to be touched. I don't like it… it makes me uncomfortable." It was a blatant lie, but I hoped he wouldn't notice.

He snorted. "Oh, _please_, Granger! I see you snuggled up next to your little Weasel of a boyfriend at night. And you hug that Ginny girl all the time."

I looked down. "He's not my boyfriend," I snapped.

"Touchy subject," Malfoy smirked. "Let's talk about it. So, Granger, how long have you been dating? When's the wedding? Where's the ring? How many babies are you going to have? You know, his family's quite large, so he'll probably want you to have, like, ten."

By the time he was done, my hands were balled into fists and I was restraining myself from slapping him. Then I decided that it was taking too much energy to refrain myself, so I slapped him across the face. He didn't even flinch. "Nice try, but that didn't hurt."

"I suppose people slap you so often you're used to it," I spat.

He looked interested. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean," I started dangerously, "that you annoy so many people so often than you must get slapped across the face quite often. And I'm _sure_ your father has—"

"Don't you _ever_ even begin to _suggest_ that my father has mistreated me!" I trembled when I realized that I was now on my back, Malfoy leaning over me, his face two inches from mine. I tried to squirm, but he was too strong.

I didn't answer him. He glared at me for a few minutes, trying to read my expression. I forced myself to remain emotionless. He lifted himself off of me and walked away. He finally stopped, propped himself against a tree, and closed his eyes.

I rolled over, facing away from him, and hugged myself. I couldn't begin to explain the tears that were burning in my eyes, but I wiped them away hastily and forced myself to sleep.

**Author's Note: That chapter has been rewritten several time, and I'm happiest with this version. A bit of trivia for you: I originally had some romance in this one… but I decided it was too rushed and deleted it all. The romance comes in later… and in a better way. Besides… what's the rush? NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: They begin the next leg of the journey… alone. More awkward conversations, more tension… but do they ever find Ginny, Ron, and Neville again? **

**Here's a little excerpt from my new story. I'm excited about it, so I thought I'd share this bit from the second chapter. It might not make complete sense, but it's like a teaser movie trailer… piece the facts given together and anticipate a better summary later! And don't worry—The Blaze is no where near done!**

_I sat at the table and took a big sip of my soda. And moments later, I proceeded to spit the soda out into the appetizer plate on the table._

_"Nice to see you again, Granger."_

_"Malfoy! How the hell did you get in here?" _

_"I have a credit card, Granger," he drawled, "Potter didn't just ship me out here with nothing, you know."_

_"Look, Malfoy, I don't want to be having this conversation with you!" I rubbed my forehead._

_"Granger, can't you just hear me out? You don't even know why I'm here and you're ready to banish me!"_

_"No, I can't hear you out," I said. "My life in your part of the world is over now, and I'm not going back."_

_"Not even for Harry?" he asked, knowing he'd hit a sore spot._

_I bit my lip and said firmly, "No. Not even for Harry."_

_"Who are you?" Aberdeen returned from the bathroom and noticed Malfoy sitting in her seat._

_"Me?" he asked, pointing to his chest. "Oh, I'm no one. In fact, I think I'm going to go hang myself off that bridge over there because your mother won't listen to what I have to say," he said dramatically._

_"Did I miss something?" Abby asked slowly._

_"Not anything important," I said._

_"Ouch," Malfoy said, getting up from the booth across from me. "That hurt, Granger. I'll just go back to England where I'll be put back in jail because I failed miserably at my one chance to have a free life."_

_I gave a frustrated sigh and said, "Okay, fine. I'll hear you out. I'll meet you outside my apartment at noon and we'll talk, okay?"_

_ "Yes! I'm not a failure! I won't be thrown in jail! You won't be sorry, Granger! Oh, and we'll go eat lunch somewhere expensive! Potter's paying, after all." he flashed the credit card in the air again. Then he left the restaurant quickly.  
"Who was that?" Aberdeen asked._

_"Uh, that was um…" I didn't know what to tell her. Abby didn't know much about my past… she knew nothing of magic or the war or anything. "Some guy," I finished weakly._

_"Okay, right, mom," Abby rolled her eyes. "That guy knew you from somewhere. It was obvious."_

_"Alright, fine, he was an old schoolmate of mine," I said._

_"Why'd he call you 'Granger'?" Abby asked suddenly, as if she just realized it._

_"Oh, look, the food's here!" I said happily, dropping the conversation. I don't think I've ever been happier to see cheese fondue in my entire life._


	14. Fathers

**Fathers**

**Draco Malfoy**

When Granger started talking about my father, I had to shut her up. This was one topic area she knew absolutely nothing about. Granger might _think_ she knows how my home life is, but she doesn't have a clue. Does my father physically beat me? Sometimes. Does he perform illegal curses on me? Often. Does he want people to know about this? No. And I don't either.

Just the thought of her assuming my father physically attacked me made me boil over in anger. So I knocked her over on her back, held myself above her, and practically glared a hole in her eye sockets. She looked frightened for a moment but she regained her composure and wouldn't let me see her fear.

She's too damn brave for her own good.

----

"Wake up!"

I was starting to really hate it when Granger was my personal alarm clock.

"Damn it, Malfoy, get up!" she ordered, shoving me awake. "Come on… we have to try and meet up with the rest of our group!"

"I'm up, Granger," I growled. "You can get your hands off my chest, now."

She blushed and scrambled away.

"Which way do you think we have to go?" she asked.

"Gee, Granger, let me think," I mocked deep thought. "We didn't know that answerlast night, so what makes you think we'll know it today?"

"You're not making this any easier."

"Who said I was trying to do that?"

She groaned and muttered, "I think we need to go that way."

I looked where she pointed. "No," I remarked, shaking my head. "I think we need to go in the total opposite direction."

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Are you just trying to disagree with me or something? We _obviously_ need to go that way!"

"Might I remind you that just moments ago you valued my opinion."

"Malfoy," she said dangerously, "I don't give a crap about your opinions anymore. I'm going this way, and if you disagree with me, go off by yourself!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"I hope I never see you again, Granger!" I said as we walked off in different directions.

"And I hope the exact same thing!"

----

"Stupid, stupid, stupid mudblood!" I cursed over and over as I got myself more lost than I was before.

"I heard that!"

"Granger?"

"Malfoy!" Granger exclaimed happily. I gave her a suspicious look. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" I asked.

She laughed. "It's me, honest. I've just been out here alone for the past three hours and I just got more and more lost. I was hoping I'd meet up with you again."

"Are you sick?" I asked, pressing my palm against her forehead. "You _do_ seem to be a little warm…"

"Malfoy," she said half seriously, "I'm _fine_. Now can we _please_ try and get out of this mess? I want to find the others."

"Alright, well, I haven't gone that way," I pointed to my left.

"Okay, let's try that."

Looking back, this was a big mistake. I read somewhere once that women have a better sense of direction than men. If that's true, than Granger's the exception. When I pointed left, she willingly agreed to go that way, as I reminded her later.

But anyway, we walked to the left. We didn't say much… only occasional comments or complaints or observations. At some point, Granger started walking ahead of me a little. I didn't mind… I was trying to save my energy for when it mattered most. And that moment came sooner than I expected.

Granger followed the rough path we were on and all of a sudden, there was an ear-piercing scream. I ran after her and stopped dead in my tracks. "Shit!"

"Help!" she yelled.

She was hanging off the edge of a cliff. I could only see her hands grabbing onto a root. "Didn't you see the end of the cliff?" I asked, unsure of how she could've not seen it and fallen.

"The ground gave way underneath me!"

"Alright, stay calm, just hold on a second," I went to find a longer stick to pull her out with. There wasn't anything strong enough. I took a deep breath and got down on all fours.

"What are you doing?" she asked impatiently. "I can't stay here all day, you know!"

She was hanging by her hands, her feet suspended in mid air. "I know."

I crawled over to the edge, testing to see if the ground could support me. If I fell, too, we'd end up dead. I got over to the edge when I was sure it would sustain my weight and grabbed her hand. "Pull yourself up," I ordered.

"I… can't!"

"Yes you can, Granger, you can. Come on, just _try_."

I grabbed both of her wrists and pulled. I could hear her feet kicking against the cliff's edge. Some rocks fluttered to the ground. I took the chance to peer over the edge, and I took a deep breath. It was a long way down. I couldn't drop her.

I used all the strength within me to pull her up and over the edge. I fell onto my back, and she tumbled on top of me. We were both breathing heavily, trying to relax ourselves again. I wanted to say something to break the ice. This was an awkward position.

"So, what are we up to here, Granger?" I asked with a smirk. "Is this is fourth time I've saved your life or what?"

She didn't get angry with me. Instead, she smiled and laughed, rolling off of me and lying on her back beside me. "I think it is."

We stayed that way for a while, and then we found the motivation to get up and keep moving. "Do you think we'll ever find them again?" she asked after we'd been walking for a while.

"Do you want the truth or do you want a sugar-coated lie?"

She pretended to be thinking deeply. "The truth."

"The truth can be brutal, Granger," I told her. "Most of the time, the lies are a lot more appealing. Are you sure you can handle what I _really _think? Because, you know, my mind can be—"

"Just tell me what you think, Malfoy," she said softly.

"I think we'll find them eventually," I said. "But it won't be any time soon… we're really lost here."

"Maybe Ginny was wrong about you," she mused.

I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Maybe you aren't such a pessimist, after all."

I glared at her. "Oh, no," I said, shaking my head. "Malfoy's are _total_ cynics."

She shook her head. "I was beginning to think we were past all of that "Malfoys" stuff."

It was my turn to shake my head. "Granger, listen," I sighed. "I can't just snap my fingers and change who I am."

"I wasn't expecting you to, but—"

"I am who I am and it's not going to change for _anyone_, got it?" My voice was growing louder by this point. "Not for _you_, not for the Weasleys, not even for _me_."

She looked away. "I suppose you're right."

"I _am_ right," I gloated. "Malfoy's are always right."

She rolled her eyes.

I smirked.

----

"Hey, is that where we camped out last time?"

"No," she said, eyeing the fire pit. "That's what they built without us."

"I see they've left already. This morning, it must've been."

"I told Ron to keep going if something happened to me," she confessed.

"Oh," I cocked my head to the side and looked at her curiously. "Who's the pessimist _now_?"

"I was just making sure he wouldn't try and be brave or stupid if I got lost or... worse…"

"Don't worry Granger," I said. "People are savages at heart. They _think_ they care about others, but when it comes down to it they don't give a damn."

"I guess we're both pessimists, then, huh?"

"I guess."

"Hey! Look!" she pointed to a patch of the ground that was written in with a stick. "They _knew_ we'd find our way back and they left us a note!"

"What does it say?" I asked, walking toward her.

"Hello, Draco." We both spun around quickly. "I was looking for you."

I instinctively backed in front of Granger, protecting her from the person in front of me. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"If you keep quiet and do what I tell you," I whispered, keeping my eyes on the man before me, "I'll be saving your life for the fifth damn time."

I reached into my pocket and realized there wasn't a wand there. It was Ginny's turn today. I remembered the advice my father gave me once. _You don't have to be bigger or stronger or faster than your enemies, Draco. You just have to be smarter and luckier. _

"Do you feel lucky, Granger?" I asked.

She gulped. "Yes."

"Good. Act optimistic for the time being."

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad some of you thought my next story sounded good. I thought of a title, which is: _My Latest Mistake_. Which, if you read, you'll find out has multiple meanings. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Who is that man that found them? What did Ginny write in the dirt? What did Ron bury next to the campfire? Will Hermione and Draco manage to escape their attacker? Will they ever meet up with the others? Will they ever find The Blaze? Okay, enough questions, already! The next chapter will have the answers. REVIEW!**


	15. Eloquently Put

**Eloquently Put**

**Hermione Granger**

"Draco, why on _earth_ are you protecting a mudblood?"

Lucius sounded more amused than angry. That scared me more that anything. It reminded me of the time when I was eleven and I was taking piano lessons. My teacher got easily frustrated with me, but he held it in. He would twist his face into a very forced, subtly angry smile and say calmly, "Okay, Hermione, why don't you try that again?" He'd say it though his teeth and everything. It scared me more than if he would've just outright screamed at me for not knowing the song. I think, looking back, that I would've preferred that.

"Father," Malfoy said slowly. "I'm not _protecting _her."

"You moved in front of her when you saw me, so that might've given me the idea," he said. "You know, Draco, I understand you don't have a wand. I ran into some dreadful Ravenclaw third year who is headed to The Blaze. I intimidated him into telling me that everyone breaks their wands before they get there. He wouldn't give me the directions, though…" Lucius trailed off with an evil smile. "It's a pity the world lost such a kind, brave soul."

"Father, I'm not going to this Blaze thing," Malfoy lied.

"That was the most blatant lie I ever saw, son."

Malfoy looked at the ground in shame. I took the opportunity to read what was written in the dirt. It was in Ginny's handwriting, and I was standing right in front of it. "Hermione, Draco's father was spotted near here… we ran away, but I think he's looking for you both. This is charmed (wand usage was necessary here) so that only you can read it. Ron buried the wand next to the fire pit… if you're standing near this, it's easy to reach. There's a pebble right on top of the tip. We'll meet up with you later."

When Lucius and Draco were talking about things, I tuned them out and waited for my chance. I got it when Lucius said, "I don't want to have to use my wand against two defenseless teenagers, but I will if I have to," he smiled sweetly at me. I maintained my glare.

Draco lunged at him, and I went to the fire and unearthed the wand discreetly. Draco and turned his father around and was punching him in the stomach and back. It was a hard position for Lucius to get to his wand, but I saw him try, so I stupefied him before he could get to it.

"Where'd you get that?" Malfoy asked.

"Ron buried it near the fire. They saw your father before he saw them and took the chance to run."

"I guess they deserve a little more credit than I give them," he admitted, looking at his father. "Give me the wand."

I handed it over without thinking twice. That was a big mistake.

"I'm going to do what I should've done ages ago," Malfoy went to his father and took his wand. He gave it to me and I pocketed it. Another one would come in handy later, I supposed. I kept that thought to myself, though, to avoid being called a pessimist.

Malfoy revived his father and then yelled, "Crucio!" with more passion than I'd ever heard anyone say it. I cringed as he tortured his father. "This is because of all the times you beat me! And because of all the death eater meetings you made me go to! And for making me get the mark! And for lying to me! And for hurting people I cared about!"

I started to cry. I think it first hit me right then that Draco Malfoy was, indeed, a human being and he did, indeed, have feelings.

Then he made me take that back when he looked at the heap on the ground that was his father and said in a dangerously low tone, "Avada Kedavra."

I cringed and more tears poured out of my eyes. Draco dropped the wand when he realized what he'd done. He turned away from me and started running through the words, thrashing anything in his way aside. "Draco…"

He ignored me and kept running. I ran after him, tears blinding me. I started sobbing at this point, my throat making forced choking sounds. I finally caught up with Malfoy and I put my hand on his shoulder.

He spun around and looked at me with an emotion that was a cross between sorrow, regret, anger, and confusion. "Draco…" I repeated, sobs still leaving my body. He looked terrible and I just threw my arms around him and hugged him close to me. He froze in shock and then pulled away.

"Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. Leave me alone, Granger."

I kept crying.

"And stop your goddamn tears!" he bellowed. "Why are you crying, anyway? My father deserved that. He's not worth your tears."

"I'm crying for _you_," I whispered. I couldn't begin to imagine what he must be going through… he killed his own father!

He glared at me when I said that and told me, "I hate pity more than anything. I don't want your goddamn sympathy."

I wiped my tears and tried to control my emotions. I felt terrible, and I had some pressure to remember the directions.

"Hermione!"

I was saved by Ron, Ginny, and Neville.

"What happened?" Ginny asked, looking at my face and Malfoy's blank expression.

I shook my head. "Draco… he… Lucius…"

"I killed my father," Malfoy came out with bluntly.

Everyone just stared.

----

As we continued walking, no one talked. What on earth was there to say? Malfoy was giving us all the cold shoulder, which was expected. He singled me out in particular… he wouldn't even _look_ at me.

Ron yawned loudly. "I'm tired."

"Me too, but there's no way I'll be able to sleep after… well…" I looked sheepishly at Malfoy, who just scowled at me.

"What if there are more death eaters out here?" Neville asked.

"Yeah," Ginny agreed. "What if we're leading some of them straight to The Blaze?"

Malfoy made the first attempt in a while for conversation. "No, my father came alone. I'm sure of it. He was too damn stubborn to accept back-up."

We all looked away uncomfortably. What was there to say? None of us had ever been in a situation like this before.

"Granger," Malfoy said suddenly. "I want to talk to you." He cast a glance at Ron. "_Alone_."

He walked off into the brush and I followed. "We'll catch up, you guys go ahead," I called over my shoulder to the rest of our group. Once we were alone, I asked, "What?" and crossed my arms over my chest.

He sighed, ran his fingers through his once-slicked-back hair. "Look, I just…"

I patiently waited. He looked unsure of what to say.

"What happened back there…. it was a long time coming."

I merely blinked.

"I thought about killing my father for years. Every time he'd finish beating my mum or me or someone I knew…. I would wish he was dead. At night sometimes, I would just lay there, looking at the ceiling, planning his death."

I shivered.

"I know, I know… it's pretty sick. But what happened today wasn't something I ever thought I was really capable of. I never thought _I_ would actually kill him like I pictured in my day dreams. I just didn't think I'd have the heart to."

"Impulses are—"

"Impulses aren't supposed to get acted upon," he interrupted. "I just have to tell someone this… and you were there so I picked you." He sighed again. "I feel terrible. Granger… I want to just jump off a cliff. Drown myself. Put a wand to my head and say those two words that ended so many lives."

I shook my head. "Malfoy… you can't."

"What have I got to live for? If we go to The Blaze, it'll just be a nightmare and if I go back… someone will kill me."

"Please, don't think about things like that, Malfoy," I said softly. "I know you have this persona that you're tough and arrogant and think highly of yourself. No, let me finish. Call it what you want… say it's just because you're 'a Malfoy,' but it's a persona no matter how you look at it. I can see through you sometimes. You _do_ have a heart and you aren't a complete cynic. I thought you were at one time, but you're not. You saved my life countless times… if you truly hated me like you say you do, you would've left me to die in the field, or let me fall off the cliff. But you didn't because you are a semi-decent human being, Malfoy. And semi-decent human beings don't commit suicide."

He looked at me with raised eyebrows for a moment. "That was eloquently put, Granger." He then smiled evilly. "And it was also better than I expected. Do you honestly think I'd kill myself?"

"You mean… all of that…?"

"No, just the suicide part. The rest is true." I glared at him as he smirked. "You really have gone soft, Granger."

"No I haven't!" I insisted. _Had I_?

"Yes, Granger, you have. I thought you hated me, but you just proved me wrong. You _are_ a semi-decent human being."

"Are you done?" I asked.

"I suppose."

We caught up with the others quickly, and they all cast us suspicious glances. "So, when do we get to The Light?" I asked Neville.

"I've been wondering what the hell that meant," Ron added.

Neville smiled. "We should be getting there soon."

"And then what?" Ginny asked.

"And then we wait."

"For what?" Malfoy asked.

"For someone from The Blaze to come and get us."

**Author's Notes: You guessed it. Well, anyway, some of you figured out it was Lucius. I was pretty obvious about that, I suppose. Well, thanks—as always—for all the great reviews. I'm really glad you're all enjoying this so much. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Well, they keep walking and get to The Light. Which is? I know, I know… that was pretty vague of me. Well, you'll find out… I think it's pretty clever (Modesty is not my strong point). And then The Blaze? Don't get over anxious, kids… that comes a few chapters down the road. And then we see romance. But that comes LATER! This is going to be drawn out and stretched out to as long as it can be without getting pointless. I'll post in 2-4 days, as always!**


	16. The Light

**The Light**

**Draco Malfoy**

I don't think I could even begin to describe what I felt at that moment. You know—the moment when I realized what I had truly done. The moment I dropped my wand, froze, and stared in shock at the remains of my father. The moment I realized that the reason my father was dead was because I killed him.

Teenagers don't kill their fathers. Well, I should correct myself—teenagers who kill their fathers are usually mentally disturbed. I'm in perfectly good mental health (or am I?) and yet, I'm guilty of the aforementioned crime.

It was a pretty impulsive thing… he was there, he was weak, and he was in my way. So I got rid of him. I'd seen people die before… but never at my own hands. I dropped the wand and was generally shocked afterwards, but I realized that what was done was done and I couldn't go back. At least, not without a time turner, that is. And truthfully, I wasn't sure I would _want_ to change things.

Well, anyway. I realized then that there was no turning back. If I did, I'd face prison and ultimately, the Dementor's Kiss. For a while, I was considering the option that I could return to civilization someday. Now I realized that I had to give up on that hope.

"And this," Longbottom said suddenly, interrupting my thoughts, "is The Light."

For the first time, I noticed how dark the area we were in was. I thought the sun was just setting, but there were actually rocks framing the sky and plants growing up them. There was only one spot where the sky and sun showed through. This spot was what Longbottom pointed to. It was The Light.

The sun shone through in that one spot and it illuminated a small patch on the ground in front of us. There were rocks set up where the light hit so people could rest on them. According to Longbottom, the people from The Blaze traveled here only once a week. It was about a day and a half trip, but they made it each week to ensure that new citizens would be able to enter their new home.

It was the worst idea I think I'd ever heard.

But it was the only option I had.

We sat on the rocks and waited. We had no idea what day it was, and even if we did, it wouldn't matter. All we knew was that someone would eventually come for us.

"How long do you think it's going to take?" I asked after we'd sat on the rocks for about an hour.

"Days, probably," Longbottom said while stifling a yawn.

"So, are there, like, actual houses there?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know," Longbottom said truthfully. "There are makeshift shelters, but I think there might be half-decent shelters by now. I mean… the original founders brought a lot with them."

"Like...?" Granger demanded impatiently.

"Like cookware they stole from Hogwarts, furniture, and blankets and stuff. They shrunk it at school and then made it grow when they got here."

"They should've shrunk Hagrid's hut," Ron remarked.

"They wouldn't _need_ to shrink that sorry excuse for a house," I rolled my eyes.

"Shut it, Malfoy," Granger scoffed.

"Sorry," I said rudely, "I forgot you're all enthralled with that oaf."

There was silence after that. I was trying to be nicer, I really, really was.

But changing everything about your past was harder that you might think. Forgetting who I was didn't come naturally to me. I was a Malfoy at heart, and Malfoys don't change their personalities with the snap of a finger.

Besides, who said I _wanted_ to change? Just because I had a chance to start over didn't mean I wanted it. I could maintain my status as superior to those I was with and I could continue being an arrogant asshole.

I could.

But did I really want to? I couldn't completely answer that. I wasn't sure if I wanted to change who I was. I wasn't sure if I _should_. And I wasn't sure what the hell I was going to do for the rest of my life.

Malfoy's aren't cowards. Running away from your past and present qualifies as cowardice. I was acting like a coward. But I wasn't acting. I'd become the very thing I promised myself I would never become: a Gryffindor. I might as well just throw myself off the nearest cliff.

I was considering it that time, honestly, but then I remembered we were in the middle of a forest on some rocks. And the sun was in my eye.

----

"Blaise Zabini, get your goddamn ass over here immediately," I yelled angrily, while I punched the rock below me. "Ow!"

"We still have a few days left, Malfoy, relax."

"_Relax_?" I asked angrily. "Granger, you can't be serious! Relaxing is about the farthest thing from my mind at the moment!"

"Well, your whining and complaining is driving us all mad!"

"Weasley, you're the only one bothered by it, I think. I believe that Granger in particular finds my anger attractive, don't you Granger?"

"Go kill yourself," she muttered.

"See! She's provoking me! It's her way of saying, 'Oh, Draco, you're so hot when you're mad.'"

"In your dreams," Ginny said.

"Dreams?" I asked. "Try nightmares. I don't want Granger to find me attractive. She's a—"

"Don't say it," she said under her breath. "For once, Malfoy, just don't say it."

I shut my mouth. Then I decided to be an asshole. I made the final decision that this life-changing event wasn't going to change my life.

"Mudblood."

"If I had a wand right now, I would totally hex you," Ginny said dangerously.

I smirked. "But, Ginerva, I have both of our wands."

I twirled them between my fingers and everyone glared at me. I couldn't wait until we got to The Blaze and I had an ally.

**A/N: I know it was short… but the next chapter is better. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: The next chapter is when they finally get to The Blaze. And they learn some things that are upsetting and shocking. And Draco changes his mind about not wanting to start over. (or does he?)**


	17. The Blaze

**The Blaze**

**Hermione Granger**

For some unexplainable reason, it hurt when Malfoy called me a mudblood. I didn't know why… he'd done it so many times before, but when he said it that day, I felt a sharp pang in my chest.

It was stupid. I shook it off. I shouldn't be bothered by anything that idiot says. He's an idiot.

We sat in silence on the rocks. It was weird… we could've sat off them, I'm sure, but we chose to sit _on_ them where the sun was blinding.

"Hey, did you guys see that tree up there?" Ron pointed above our heads, and we noticed the tree branches that were above our heads.

"No, I didn't see that before," Ginny remarked.

"Do you think that's where The Blaze is?" Malfoy asked.  
"Up _there_?" I asked, hardly thinking it was possible. The cliffs overhead were _very_ high above us… maybe a few hundred feet.

"Yeah," Neville said. "I think maybe Malfoy's right."

"Well, if he _is_ right, then how the hell do we get up there?" I asked.

"I don't know," Neville admitted. "But we'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

----

"Oy! Look who it is!" Neville pointed upward. Our eyes followed. I squinted in the darkness… only the moon gave a subtle glow overhead.

We saw two figures above us, quietly and slowly peering down at us. "Draco?"

It was Blaise and someone I didn't recognize. He was older, it looked like… older than my parents, I thought.

"How the hell do we get up there?" Malfoy asked.

"We'll come and get you, don't worry," the other man said and then the two of them disappeared.

"Where did they go?" Ron asked, craning his neck to see where they went.

"Over there!" Ginny pointed.

They were climbing down the side of a cliff. It looked dangerous and steep and difficult. I gulped. Was this really worth it?

After several, long minutes, they were down on solid ground with the rest of us. "Wow, let's see who we've got here…" Blaise looked around at all of us. "Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Draco Malfoy."

We all nodded after he said our names.

"Well," said the other man—who we still didn't know, "you've all had a long journey. But there's only a day left."

"This is Ben," Blaise offered finally. "Ben is one of the original founders of The Blaze."

I studied the man in front of me. He wasn't that old, I decided… maybe mid to late forties. He had dark hair that was going grey and large muscles. He had a friendly smile and a warm handshake. I could tell that he was like the father figure at The Blaze, only he was cool and he seemed like someone you could _really_ talk to.

"We'll do the formal introductions and talk about the details of living at The Blaze later," Ben said. "Let's just get there first."

We followed Blaise and Ben to the part of the cliff they climbed down. Ginny went first, Neville followed. Then Ron, me, Malfoy, Ben, and Blaise.

I held onto the crevices in the rocks, following Neville's motions before me. I dug my right hand into the rock and stuck my foot into what I _thought_ was a sturdy rock, but it gave way, making me slip. "Damn it, Granger," Malfoy said, catching me. I got chills down my spine when his hands brushed the small of my back, but I shook it off.

With Malfoy's help, I managed to find another foothold and continue my climb. After a while of climbing, I finally reached the top. Ron grabbed my hands and pulled me up, sending me tumbling onto him. "Sorry," I muttered awkwardly. The position reminded me of the one I had found myself in not too long before then. Except that time, it was Malfoy who was pulling me up a cliff.

"A little help would be nice," Malfoy muttered as I turned my back on him. I grabbed his hands and tried to pull him up, but he was too heavy for me. "You're so weak," he complained as he hoisted himself up on his own. I couldn't help but notice his muscles on his upper arms. I looked away quickly, hoping I wasn't blushing.

As we all got up and began to walk, I started realizing how much I thought about Draco Malfoy. It wasn't logical… it wasn't normal. It wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to look at him and think, "Gee, he's really quite attractive." I was supposed to hate him. I was Hermione Granger and he was Draco Malfoy. It wasn't right.

----

When we went over the final hill, the smoke from The Blaze was the first thing you saw.

The next thing you saw was all the buildings. There was one large building in the center, and several others in a half-circle behind it. They were made from wood; it appeared, with some stones on the larger building. They looked like they were sturdy and well-constructed… nothing like the crude, half-cave shelters that Neville predicted. The place was in the midst of a forest, with many of the trees near the buildings torn out.

"What do you think?" Ben asked.

"It's amazing," I breathed.

I looked at everyone else. Ginny smiled happily, Ron looked hungry, Neville looked indifferent, and Malfoy looked _impressed_. He actually showed signs of being impressed with all of this. I was expecting him to mock the whole thing and want to go home.

"I don't know who you're friendly with and all that, but four people can sleep in each cabin. There's only two full ones at the moment," Ben said. I counted the cabins. There were ten of them.

"Ginny and Hermione can share a cabin," Blaise suggested. I was surprised at his obvious friendliness toward us all. He didn't show Malfoy any special treatment, and he didn't mock us for being Gryffindors.

Then I remembered that Blaise had always been different from other Slytherins. I always wondered why he was even sorted into that house… he never called me a mudblood or anything like that. He never insulted any of us. He seemed to be above that… too good to be heartless. He was more mature than Malfoy was, I always thought.

"And how about Neville and Ron can room with Draco and me?"

"I have to share a room with _them_?" Malfoy whined. "I thought I'd come here and never have to say another word to them!"

Blaise shook his head slowly. "Draco, things work differently here. We all work together. We all take part in building things, cooking meals, mending clothes. We all get along."

"But they're Gryffindors and we're Slytherins! It isn't right!" Malfoy insisted.

"Draco," Ben said patiently. "None of that matters here. Whoever used to be your enemy can now be your best friend." At this, Malfoy threw a look of disgust in my direction. "Whoever you fought with can be a roommate. Whatever prejudices you had… whatever beliefs you had…. none of that matters here. You have a chance to start completely over. To fix mistakes you made that you thought were too late to undo. You have a new chance… and you'd be smart if you took it."

Malfoy didn't show any emotion at all. He just shrugged and stared at the ground.

----

Out of the few people already at The Blaze, I recognized very few. They were mostly younger students… ones who were afraid to fight.

I still couldn't get over the fact that this was my new home. The cabin Ginny and I shared had four beds in it, but only two of them were filled. We would get new roommates within the week, Ben estimated. More and more people would probably come.

"I'm going for a walk," I told Ginny as she rearranged the furniture. She was into all that Chinese-mystical-furniture-rearranging crap. By this point, I could care less which direction my bed faced… as long as I_ had_ a bed.

"Okay," she muttered, pushing all her weight against a spare bed.

I walked out the wooden door, letting it slam. This place reminded me of a summer camp I went to once. It was nicer at The Blaze, though… and it was more peaceful and quiet.

I followed one of the paths that went toward a lake. Ben told us that was where everyone bathed and swam and hung out occasionally. I thought I'd check it out. The path was made from clearing the weeds and smoothing the dirt. A few wildflowers grew along the path, making it seem almost pleasant and intentional.

The path soon gave way to a clearing, where I saw the lake ahead of me. But I also saw Malfoy sitting on a rock, facing the water. I sighed and walked up to him. He was fiddling with something in his hands. Something small… something round…. it was a ring, I decided finally.

"What's that?" I asked, leaning over his shoulder. He jumped.

"A ring my father gave me," he said. "It's the Malfoy family ring… it's been with the Malfoys for centuries. It's priceless… it's worth a ton of money."

He handed it to me, and I inspected it. It was made of white gold and had words in an ancient language inscribed in the band. "What's that say?" I asked, squinting at it.

"It says, 'Never forget where you came from.'"

"That's cool," I offered.

He shook his head. "I want to forget. I want to take that chance Ben was talking about. This place is a new start. I'm not going to end up like I did last time."

I blinked at him in shock.

"I'm not saying I'm going to become your best friend," he said quickly. "I'm just saying that I'm going to be _civil_."

"I can't picture that," I admitted.

"Yeah, well."

There was an awkward silence, in which he took the ring back from me and slid it onto his finger.

Then he took it off, looked at it, and threw it into the lake.

----

At nightfall, we discovered that everyone helped with dinner. Some of the younger girls—second year Hufflepuffs—chopped some vegetables from the garden. The older boys started a fire. Ginny and I got water to fill the pots with. Malfoy, Blaise, Neville, and Ron helped Ben cut up the deer we were going to eat.

The thought of eating a deer made me a little squeamish. But Ben informed me that we also ate chicken—there was a makeshift coop by the garden—and eggs and fish and salad. We were having a deer because it was a special occasion. The occasion was that the five of us arrived in one piece.

After a few hours, everything was ready and we started to eat. Surprisingly, the deer was actually really good. Everyone was really friendly… even Malfoy was talking and laughing with people he hardly knew. For once, he wasn't off by himself, being antisocial.

I watched him from across the table. He was talking to a younger Ravenclaw girl who I happened to know was muggle-born. He was smiling and laughing and _happy_. I was happy for him. I was surprised, yes, but I was happy he was making friends.

Little by little, I could see changes in him. He could deny it all he wanted, but he was changing. Ever since he threw that ring into the lake, it was like he threw away some of his old beliefs.

And I guess it went both ways. I no longer spat insults at him all the time. In fact, he gave me no reason to. He still called me Granger, but I could handle that better than Mudblood.

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind reviews! Sorry it took a while to put this up… I wanted to make sure it was right. I didn't want to rush it. If you didn't already pick up on it, Hermione's starting to like Draco and, NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: he's starting to like her, too. **


	18. Illogical, Irrational, Insane

**Illogical, Irrational, Insane**

**Draco Malfoy**

Damn her.

Goddamn Hermione Granger for being so bloody wonderful. What was it about her that made me different? What did she do to me whenever I was near her? I never acted like that around another girl before, so why did I change around her? It was illogical, irrational, it was _insane_!

For some _stupid_ reason, Granger was the one thing I couldn't stop thinking about. I had much more important things to be considering, but the one thing I kept thinking about was _how can I get her to kiss me again_? I _should've_ been thinking about how miserable the rest of my pathetic life would be. I _should've_ been worrying about someone finding us. I _should've_ been sleeping.

But I was awake; staring at the wood ceiling, listening to Weasley's bloody annoying snoring. I finally reached the point where I couldn't take it anymore. I threw back the clean white sheet, slid my shoes on, and quietly walked out the cabin.

The cool air hit me all over the place and I started to regret not wearing my robe. Everyone did laundry that morning, so all of our robes were hanging on a line. I wrapped my arms around myself tighter and wondered where I should go. I decided to walk around the back of the cabins and find somewhere quiet to sit. Quiet. Ha. The whole _place_ was eerily silent. The clothes were back behind an empty cabin, flapping freely in the breeze. The fire was long extinguished—that comforting crackle was long gone. Everyone except me was asleep, dreaming of something pleasant.

I suddenly heard a loud crunch behind me and I spun around. I heard a sigh of relief from behind, and I managed to let my breath out, too. "Can't sleep?" I asked Granger.

She shook her head.

We both looked away. I looked at her briefly and noticed her shivering. I wished I had my robe to give her.

I shook the thought from my mind. I shouldn't like her. I should hate her. _But I like her_.

"Do you like it here?" I asked suddenly. I silently cursed at myself for asking a lame question.

"So far, yeah," she paused. "I just… miss people. I miss my family, some of my friends… I'm not sure if this was so smart."

"If you went back, you'd be killed," I reminded her. "This was your best option."

"I feel like a coward," she confessed quietly. "I feel like I should've stayed around to help Harry." I noticed her tears for the first time. "I'm a terrible friend."

"Hey, no you're not," I consoled her. "I would've done what you did, too."

"See!" she exclaimed. "I did what _you_ would've done! That's awful!" She started to cry more openly. "And it's all you're fault, you know!"

"Me?" I asked incredulously. "What in the bloody hell did _I_ do?"

"You carried me with you away from Hogwarts!" she said as if she couldn't believe I dared to ask. "You should've left me there! I shouldn't be here! I should be with Harry!"

She wiped her tears hastily and turned around.

"Where're you going?" I called after her.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I can't stay here. I think I'll apparate back…"

"No!" I said quickly. "You can't! You'd give us all away!"

She nodded. "Then I'm reversing the trip. I'm getting out of here."

"You can't!" I repeated.

"Watch me!"

I grabbed her by the waist.

"Let me go!" she ordered.

"Granger, you're not thinking rationally," I told her. Inside, though, _I_ wasn't thinking rationally. My heart was beating faster and faster. I kept thinking about how much I wanted to kiss her. It was bloody insane.

She struggled to break free from my grip. She wasn't strong enough. "Why are you doing this?" she asked me slowly. "Why do you keep rescuing me?"

I looked into her eyes. "I don't know," I muttered. It was a blatant lie… one I knew she'd fall for.

"That's not good enough," I noticed she wasn't trying to get away from me anymore.

"You can't handle the truth, Granger!" I burst finally. "The truth is a stupid, illogical, irrational, insane thing! You want the lies! You don't want to hear that I don't want you to leave because I'd miss you too much."

She dropped her arms to her sides and stared at me.

"You're right," she said finally. "I would rather hear the lies. I_ can't_ handle the truth."

I let her go and she went back into her cabin. I knew she wasn't going anywhere. I returned to my bed and fell asleep immediately.

----

There should be a law that I can't open my mouth late at night or early in the morning. I say the _stupidest_ things when I'm sleep deprived.

The next morning, Granger looked at me curiously. I hated being constantly under her stare. She was trying to get a reaction out of me… trying to see what I was thinking. For breakfast, Ben had some fresh fruit set out for us. I ate an apple and quickly rose from the table.

Claire, an annoying Ravenclaw, asked me, "Where're you going?"

"For a swim," I said out of lack of a better answer.

"Cool! I want to come!" she stood up.

"I'd like to be alone, actually," I said stiffly.

I saw her face fall. "Oh. Okay."

I strode out the door and went down to the lake. Granger and Claire were leaving the building behind me. I silently cursed. I didn't want to talk to either of them.

"What part of 'I'd like to be alone' didn't you understand?" I asked Claire.

"She can go for a swim if she wants to, Malfoy," Granger said.

"Fine. Go on. I'll go back and eat," I offered.

"Okay," Claire smiled. "Me too!"

I groaned. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you see that I'm trying to avoid you? Are you really that dense?"

Claire bit her bottom lip and trembled. She turned and ran into her cabin, crying.

"Now look what you've done," Granger said.

"_Me_?"

"Yes, you!" she exclaimed. "That girl really likes you and you just told her off!"

"Serves her right," I said. "She's obnoxious."

"Well, it doesn't matter. You should've at least been decent to her! Whatever happened to that whole 'taking-that-second-chance' idea?"

I thought about it. "I don't know."

She shook her head dismissively. "That's your answer for everything lately, isn't it?"

I smirked. "You wanted the lies, Granger."

**Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews! This chapter wasn't the best, but it WAS important. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: Hermione reflects on her feelings for Draco. What exactly have they got going on? Well, she can't let it rest, so she asks him. And she gets the truth. But again, the lies are better. And what happens when Ron finds out something he shouldn't?**


	19. Crazy

**Crazy**

**Hermione Granger**

Truth. Lies. How ludicrous!

What did it matter? What mattered at that particular moment in time was that poor Claire just had her heart broken. I didn't know Claire really well back in Hogwarts, but I did know _of_ her. She was a smart girl… lacking common sense, yes, but she was book smart.

"Claire?" I wandered into the cabin she shared with three other girls (Amy, Julia, and Leanne) to find her alone, crying into her pillow. "Claire." I sat down next to her and stroked her back lightly. She continued sobbing.

"What did I do wrong?" she asked through her tears. "Is it because I'm only a fourth year? Is it because I'm muggle-born?"

"Claire," I said carefully. "I think you might've come on a bit… _strong_. Guys like mystery… they don't like people who are so straightforward."

This only made her cry more, it seemed. "Look, Claire," I said plainly. "Draco Malfoy is nothing short of an asshole. Honestly. Not too long ago, he referred to me as 'Mudblood' and constantly insulted me. But he's trying to change… but he's not perfect. He isn't worth it, Claire. There are so many more nice boys you can go out with," I paused. "That Jason boy seemed nice. And he's only one year older than you."

She seemed to be thinking it over. "But Draco's so gorgeous."

I shook my head. "He might be, Claire, but he's trouble. Believe me… a nice girl like you shouldn't want to have to put up with a bastard like him. You can do better."

"You… you mean it?" she stammered, her crying coming to a stop.

"I do."

"Thanks, Hermione," she smiled, wiping her tears. "I think I'll go find out if Jason's into the Weird Sisters."

I smiled. "That sounds like a good idea."

She stood up and left the cabin, smiling again. I lingered on the bed a little longer than necessary. I jumped when I heard the door swing open.

"Jason was still eating," Claire said. "If I know _anything_ about guys, it's this: never disturb them when they're eating."

I thought of Ron and started laughing. "Very good point, Claire. Well, I need to be doing my share of work around here," I said, rising from the bed. "There are probably dishes from breakfast I could wash."

I walked out of the cabin and someone startled me. Malfoy was standing next to the door, leaning on the side of the cabin.

"I took care of it," I said quickly. "She's all better now."

"Good."

I looked at the ground.

"I, uh," he looked up at me. "I heard what you said before. About me being an asshole."

I blushed.

"Did you really mean all of that, Granger?"

"Do you want the lies?" I asked him.

"No," he said. "I want the truth."

I sighed. "Fine! I kind of meant it. I mean," I paused. "Sometimes you're nice to me. Sometimes I enjoy talking to you. But other times you're cold and annoying and mean to me! I can't figure it out."

"I'm a complicated person, Granger," he muttered.

"No," I insisted. "You're practically bipolar! You're like two totally different people!"

"Which person do you like better?" he asked suddenly.

"I like the Draco Malfoy that's funny and smart and nice. The one that doesn't call me Mudblood, but on a good day calls me Granger. I like _that_ Malfoy."

"Really? I happen to prefer the bastard, myself."

I laughed. "See, that smirk you've got right there… that's the joking smirk. The mean smirk isn't attractive, but this one is. I like you better this way."

I didn't know why I said it. I didn't know why he did it. But the next thing I knew, I was kissing Draco Malfoy. And it wasn't a dare from Ginny. And it wasn't so Malfoy would give me something. It was a real kiss.

We jumped apart when the cabin door slammed. "You bitch!" I gritted my teeth as Claire stared at us.

"Claire, I…"

"I don't want to hear it! All that comforting bullshit you told me minutes ago was a lie, Hermione! You said all of that… making him seem like a terrible person… and it was all so you could get me out of the picture!"

"No, Claire, I never…" I knew there was no way to explain this situation without her thinking I was crazy.

"Listen, I know this looks a little—"

Claire interrupted Malfoy by saying, "Whatever. I don't need this. This was exactly the kind of crap I wanted to get away from when I came here. I thought I would be able to live a happy life away from assholes like you two. But I was so wrong, wasn't I?"

We looked at each other guiltily when she ran off. "I… don't know what exactly just happened," I admitted slowly.

Malfoy nodded. "I don't either."

"But I think I might've liked it," I said quietly. I really didn't know what had gotten into me. Hermione Granger didn't talk to boys that way.

And when she _did_, the boys were supposed to insult her. They weren't supposed to grab her by the waist, pull her closer, and kiss her. And she wasn't supposed to kiss back.

----

I walked into the main cabin, thinking I would follow up on my earlier intention of washing some dishes.

When I walked through the door and headed to the kitchen, everyone's eyes were on me. I saw some curious looks, some blank stares, and some angry faces. I didn't understand why, and then I saw Claire sitting in a chair, her arms crossed. _Oh_.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you," Ron said, rising from his seat.

"Ok…ay…" I managed to sputter.

We walked out the wood door and around the corner. "Claire just told us all a very interesting story, Hermione."

I swallowed nervously. "Really?" I squeaked.

"Uh-huh," Ron said, eyeing me closely. "She said you were making out with Malfoy."

I fake laughed. It was really bad faking, though. "That's pretty funny!"

"It's true, Hermione, and I know it."

"Ron… listen… I don't know what happened. It just…"

"Happened?"

"Yeah."

"Hermione, it's not my business what you do with your life," Ron said softly. "But this is crazy! It's a mistake, Hermione. You're just going to get yourself hurt!"

"Ron, I told you. It just happened. It's not going to happen again. I don't like him. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Fine," he sighed, turning back around. "And don't worry about the dishes. Ginny and Neville finished them ten minutes ago."

I let out a breath and watched Ron walk away.

"You really are blind, aren't you?"

It was Malfoy. He had been standing behind a tree and overheard our whole conversation.

"What are you talking about?" I asked impatiently.

"I'm talking about Weasley," he said. "It's more than obvious to an outsider that he's in love with you."

"_Ron_?" I asked, laughing a little. "No way! Ron's my best friend. Besides Harry…" I stopped that train of thought. It was too painful to think about.

"Isn't that how it _always_ is?" he retorted. "You know, in the books and things?"

I shook my head. "I wouldn't know. I've never been able to finish a trashy romance novel."

"Really?" he looked amused. "See, I would've pictured you as the type who secretly reads them under the blanket with a lit wand, fantasizing about the day you meet someone so perfect."

I laughed. "You're bloody insane." I paused. "Hang on, how would _you_ know about such things? Don't tell me _you_ do that!"

He looked horrified. "Me? Hell no!"

We both laughed.

"Why is this happening?" I asked suddenly.

"What?" he asked, pretending he didn't already know.

"Why are we becoming friends?"

"Who said I was interested in becoming friends?" he wanted to know.

"Seriously… you're flirting with me!"

"Flirting?" he looked interested. "What would you know about _that_? You can't even pick up on the giant blinking sign Weasley is wearing that screams 'notice me!'."

I laughed. "I really think you're exaggerating."

"I'm not, really," he said seriously. "Open your eyes or you might miss something."

"That's a meaningful piece of advice, Malfoy," I said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a _complete_ bastard."

"I never said you were," I said softly.

And again, somehow I found myself kissing the person I was supposed to hate. I backed away. "This isn't right," I muttered.

"Who's to say what's right and wrong?" he demanded.

"That's not fair!" I exclaimed. "Don't get all philosophical on me now!"

"I'm just saying, Granger," he said calmly. "Maybe Ben was right."

"About the whole 'none-of-that-matters-anymore' stuff?"

"Exactly," he nodded.

"So what are you saying, exactly?" I wanted to know.

"I'm saying that maybe this isn't so crazy after all."

"That in itself is crazy!" I said a little louder than necessary.

"You're crazy!"

We found ourselves laughing again. I wasn't sure what was so funny, but I wanted that moment to last forever. Just me and Malfoy standing under the trees, laughing so hard we were crying.

It was crazy.

**Author's Note: Well, the romance had to start soon, didn't it? Please let me know if you think this is too rushed. I think it needs to slow down, which is why NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: it does. Draco reflects on the fact that maybe change is bad. And some other stuff happens. Thanks for all the reviews!**


	20. Of Reforms and Rings

**Of Reforms and Rings**

**Draco Malfoy**

I decided that all of my actions were due to some sort of mental illness I had developed since leaving Hogwarts. Under normal circumstances, Granger wasn't someone I would spend time with.

These were not normal circumstances.

Perhaps it was some sort of post-traumatic stress disorder. After all… I witnessed many deaths, was responsible for one, and my entire lifestyle was changed. And I also had screwed up eating and sleeping habits now.

Another, more horrific thought occurred to me as well. Maybe Ben was some sort of sick, twisted person. Maybe he wanted to kill us all… drug us, play with our minds, and leave us to die.

Okay, maybe not.

Maybe that was just another deranged invention of my twisted brain. I didn't know what to think anymore. I didn't know what to do anymore. But most of all, I didn't know who to _be_ anymore.

I threw that ring into the lake, and it was something I began to regret. Not only was it in my family for generations upon generations, but it was worth more than my life!

And so, I got up off the ground, dusted my self off, and wandered over to the lake. Luckily for me, no one was there. They were probably preparing lunch or something. I looked around until I figured out where I was standing. Then I picked up a rock and tossed it into the lake, just like I did with the ring. I took off my shirt, slipped into the cool water, and dove under.

The water was like ice. I shivered, sure I was turning blue, but I looked on anyway. I fumbled around blindly, too afraid to open my eyes underwater. Though the water was clear, it was up to a little over my waist, so I couldn't really see below the surface.

I finally took a deep breath, went under, and opened my eyes. It stung at first, but I got used to it. I kept going up for air and repeating the process with no results.

And then I felt something under my foot. It was small, round, and hard. It was the ring… it had to be. I dove under, squinted into the water, and spotted it. The rock I tossed in was off to the side a little. I grabbed the ring and came to the surface.

"Going for a swim?" It was Ginny. I scowled.

"Actually I'm getting out, Weaselette."

She smirked at me, not amused or offended. "I want to ask a question, if I can be so bold."

I knew what was coming, so I said, "shoot."

"What exactly do you think of Hermione?"

I frowned. "Well, she's a mudblood. And she's a pretty bad kisser. And I don't want anything to do with her, really."

"You're a liar," she accused, smiling. "You like her a lot, don't you?"

"I don't," I persisted. "I really don't like her at all."

"Then why'd you kiss her?"

"She was there. And she kissed me first."

"Right," she shook her head. "I think it's quite romantic, really."

"You're the oddest person I've ever met. You need mental help," I told her honestly.

"Whatever," she said nonchalantly. "I think the fact that you're mortal enemies only makes this cuter."

"And I think that only makes more proof that you're insane."

"Right," she said.

"I'm going to go see if lunch's ready."

"We could've used your help, you know," she said.

"Malfoy's don't cook."

"I thought you were done with that," she said, raising her eyebrows.

----

Back at The Blaze, lunch was ready. I grabbed a plate and ate it up eagerly. I saw Granger's eyes flicker over me for a moment, and stop at my hand. She saw the ring back on my finger. She frowned a little bit and went back to her food.

Serves her right. I don't know what she was playing at, trying to kiss me like that. She was the deranged one… not me.

And I thought happily, _I'm normal_. All of my theories were wrong… this new one was right. Granger was the screwed up one. I was the sane one. Maybe that was insane in itself.

I didn't know anymore.

----

It was driving me crazy that the war was happening so far away. We had no way of knowing what was happening.

Well, until Susan Bones stumbled out of the woods with Blaise. I wondered where he disappeared to. It was hardly believable we'd been there a week. "Only one this time," he said as they walked into the main cabin. "And she's got a lot to tell us!"

Everyone gathered around her. We wanted to know what was going on in the real world. Our world was like an entirely separate place… one that was so exclusive and excluded that it was either a great thing or a terrible thing.

"Things are insane back there," she said slowly. "There are dead bodies _everywhere_. It's nothing I ever could've imagined. It's still pretty hard to see a clear-cut 'winner,' per say…"

"What about Harry?" Granger asked hysterically. I rolled my eyes.

"Harry is…" Susan shook her head. "Harry's acting strange."

"Strange?" Ron asked, taking a deep breath. "Strange how?"

"I don't know… he's just," she paused, looking for the right word, "he's just acting deranged… killing everyone. It was really scary. Whenever someone tried to comfort him, he just isolated them." She stopped when she saw Granger, Ron, and Ginny's expressions.

Granger wiped away a tear.

"Well, well," I cut in snidely. "I suppose we all knew that deep down, Potter would _eventually_ go off the deep end. I mean, when your parents are killed so young, and you're living with muggles, and—hey, didn't they lock him in a closet or something?"

Everyone looked at me with hatred. "You really are a complete asshole, aren't you?" Susan asked.

The old Malfoy was back.

----

Later that night, I saw noticed Granger didn't go to dinner. She didn't even offer to help cook anything.

I left early, taking an extra plate with me. I don't know why I did it… it just seemed like the _right_ thing to do. _But Malfoys don't do the right thing_, I argued mentally. Whatever.

"Granger?" she was in her bed, wrapped in blankets and her eyes were puffy. Her hair was a mess, as usual.

"Leave me alone," she remarked bitterly.

"I brought you food," I said, holding up the plate.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat something," I told her forcefully.

"I told you to get out."

"Look," I took a deep breath. Comforting people wasn't a strength of mine, but I figured I should do it anyway. "I know it's probably hard not knowing what your best friend is doing… or how he's doing, but…"

She looked away from me, and I noticed the tears starting again.

"But you have to think about other things, now, Granger. You have a new life, one without war or problems or grades… you have a chance to start over. You have to forget—"

"I can't forget Harry!" she burst out. "He was my best friend! I was supposed to help him when this happened! We had a plan! You ruined it!"

"Granger," I shook my head, trying not to lose my patience. "Granger, I know you want to blame someone, and I'm easy to blame, but you can't seriously think I—"

"I do," she said. "I honestly think it's your fault I'm here."

"Well," I argued, feeling the kindness rubbing off, "it was _your_ brilliant mind that remembered this place was here!"

"And _you_ found the directions!" she pointed out.

"Well _you_ didn't have to follow them!"

"Well it's your fault that—"

I held up my hand. "This is stupid," I said.

She looked down at the food in front of her. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Yeah, well, Malfoy's are chivalrous."

She smiled. "I like Draco better when he's not being a Malfoy."

"So you like me, then?" I prodded, wondering why that mattered to me.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "I think I do."

"I somehow don't think your Weasel friend would approve," I said, smirking.

"Well…"

I wanted to kiss her, but I didn't want to. It was like I was being pulled in two different directions. I knew it was wrong in the real world to kiss her. But out here? It was okay. Besides, I didn't even think she _wanted _me to kiss her.

But she did. She proved it when she carelessly knocked the plate over as she leaned in and kissed me. The plate smashed on the wood floor, the glass of water spilled over, and peas rolled under the bed. But neither of us made a move to clean it. As the silverware clattered loudly to the ground, I felt like things were moving in slow motion, even though they happened so fast.

We pulled away, a little stunned, a little worried, a little overwhelmed. I bent down to pick up the pieces of the plate, and she leaned over to help.

"What happened?" it was Ginny, and I silently said _thanks_ to the powers that be for not letting her walk in three seconds earlier. "We heard a crash…"

"Was it that loud?" Granger asked, grabbing the fork off the floor.

Ginny looked out the window. "Okay, no… no one heard anything." I looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I just saw Malfoy get up and leave with a plate of food after he already ate, so I just sort of… followed him."

"You were here the whole time?" I asked, feeling the nervous.

"I heard everything…" she admitted.

Granger stopped picking up the broken plate. "Ginny!" she wailed. "I can't believe you! You're my best girlfriend, and you really violated my privacy!"

"Hermione, I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" Ginny insisted.

"He was brining me _food_! What in the bloody hell did you think he was going to do?"

"I don't know!" Ginny whined, throwing up her hands. "Is this how it's going to be?" she said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Granger asked.

"I mean, are you going to snog him, and forget about us? Are we just in your way or something?"

I dropped the knife and fork. They both looked at me as if they'd forgotten I was there.

"Sorry," Ginny said, sitting on the edge of Granger's bed. "I'm sorry, Hermione."

"It's okay, Gin." I wanted to throw up, actually. So I picked up the remains of the plate, the silverware, and some of the food and went back to the cabin.

"What happened?" Blaise asked when he saw the ruined dishware.

"Mudblood threw a plate at me," I lied nonchalantly.

"_What_?"

I laughed. "Only kidding, mate," I said. "Hey, can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, anything," he assured me.

"I brought the food to Granger, since she seemed upset over Potter," at this, Blaise raised his eyebrows and smirked. Even though he claimed that all of the pre-The Blaze stuff didn't matter, he really hadn't forgotten it. "And then she leaned in to kiss me and she knocked the food over."

Blaise laughed. "Good for you, mate," he said. "Hermione Granger is quite the catch."

I rolled my eyes. "Please. I was just having some fun with her."

"Okay, Draco," Blaise said. "I know it's happened before."

I couldn't answer, so I put the broken plate in the wash basin and scrambled back to her room to get the glass I had forgotten.

But I didn't get back to the room right away. Someone met me half way, dragged me into the forest, and started kissing me.

And it wasn't Granger.

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad you don't think it was too rushed. In that case, things will pick up speed once more! NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: In case you didn't figure out already who dragged Draco off, you will soon. This person also has a wand. And this person _uses_ the wand, putting The Blaze in danger. What will be the consequence of this forbidden wand use? What will happen between Hermione and Draco when they're sent on a mission together? I'll update soon!**


	21. Compromises

**Compromises**

**Claire Weaver**

I always got what I wanted. My parents always said I was a princess… and my wish was their desire. I was a spoiled brat, and it showed.

I wanted Draco Malfoy.

That bitch Hermione Granger was a terrible person. She acted like she was my friend and then she stabbed me in the back. So she would pay eventually, too. But I wanted to accomplish my first goal before I dealt with her.

I knew they had brought wands with them. I saw Hermione carefully hide the one she had (I wasn't sure if it was hers or not) under her bed in the wooden crate everyone got to keep their belongings in. She wrapped it carefully in a cloth napkin she stole from the kitchen. She didn't know I was in the room, so I hid under someone else's bed until she left.

And then I took it. I knew it would come in handy sometime or another, so I grabbed it when I had the perfect chance.

And my chance to use it finally came when I saw Draco alone for once. I hexed him, making his memory leave him for a moment, and I dragged him off into the brush. When his memory returned, he found me on top of him, kissing him.

"What the hell?" he muttered, forcing me off of him.

I pouted. "Claire…" he warned dangerously.

"What?" I fluttered my eyelashes.

"You're not strong enough to drag me over here like that," he said, realizing something was going on. "What did you do?"

I pulled the wand from my sleeve. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"From under Granger's bed," I told him.

He grabbed it away from me. "Well, it's my father's."

"Why don't you like me?" I demanded.

"Claire, it's not that I don't _like_ you… it's just that I don't like you like _that_."

"Right," I snorted. "That's what they _all_ say."

"Look," he said, losing his cool, "you're sort of annoying, okay? Like what you just did... kissing me like that… that's way uncool. It sort of freaked me out when you started acting so bold. I'm used to subtlety."

It was a lie and I knew it. I'd seen girls throw themselves at him and he gladly used them for what they were worth.

"It's my age, isn't it?" I asked slowly.

"Age is but a number," he said, shrugging.

"Then it's my looks!" I continued. "I'm not pretty enough for you; is that it?"

"Would you stop?" he asked angrily. "I'm tired of all of this!"

He got up and left, leaving me alone on the dirty ground.

----

"Can I have your attention, everyone?" Ben asked. We were eating dinner, and he had an important announcement.

"It is time once again to make the twice a year trip to the fields several miles from here."

We all started chattering anxiously. Well, those of us who had been here for the longest did, anyway. The newcomers were confused.

Blaise explained, "Two people make this trip twice a year. At the fields, there are a group of muggles who understand a little about our predicament and they give us some supplies."

I could see the newcomers think, _that's where they get the farm animals, dishware, bedding, clothing, and all of that other stuff_. They probably believed the legend about shrinking things before leaving Hogwarts. That got started because people didn't want to admit they went off to muggles for help.

"This time, Ben and I decided that we would like two newcomers to take the trip," they all looked interested. "The way it works is that Ben chooses one person, and I choose the other. We write it down on a piece of paper, don't show each other, and we'll reveal them now."

Blaise held up a piece of paper that read, "Draco Malfoy." My heart rate sped up. _Please, let Ben choose me_. It totally slipped my mind that I was not a newcomer. I'd been there for a few months.

"Hermione Granger," read Ben's paper.

They looked at each other blankly. I noticed Ginny's sly smile, Ron's look of anger, and Neville's look of disgust. I was heartbroken.

**Hermione Granger**

"Now remember," Blaise continued, rolling the large cart over to us, "the muggles only know that we're a protest group. We're running away in opposition to the government. The muggles we found are very liberal… they like the fact that we're rebelling."

"So they don't know about magic?" I asked, making sure.

"That's right," Ben said. "Now, you can take this cart with you to put everything on. They know what to expect, the muggles, so they'll help you load this up."

I nodded, and Malfoy did the same.

----

"Asking help from _muggles_," Malfoy scoffed, "they must _really _be desperate."

"Oh come off it," I snapped, pushing the cart along. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?" he asked, obviously bored.

"I don't know," I muttered, struggling with the cart. "I thought you said Malfoys were chivalrous!"

"Who said I was a Malfoy?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Can you just take the cart?" I asked.

"Fine," he pushed it along ahead of him. I envied the way he made it look so simple.

There was a long silence.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked randomly, making me flinch.

"What?" I asked, caught completely off guard.

"I mean, why did you do it, Granger?"

Why _did_ I do it? Truth be told, I wasn't sure. "I… I don't know."

"Is that a lie?" he asked, torturing me for all the truth, lies, and honesty questions.

"I… maybe…" I admitted. "Look, I like you, okay!" I spat. "I really do, and I just… it's slowly eating me away because I know, I _know_, it's wrong to feel like that about you, but I can't help it!"

"Look, no one said it was wrong—"

"Everyone says it's wrong!" I said, letting all of my frustration and anger pour into my words. "Ginny, Ron, Neville… even Blaise in his subtle way!"

"I don't think it's wrong," he said quietly.

"You… you don't?" I stuttered.

He laughed. "I never thought I'd see you act this way, Granger," he mused, "especially not towards me."

"Why do you have to call me Granger all the time, huh?" I asked. "Especially now that we've confirmed that we're both secretly in love with each other and there's nothing we can do but leave it that way."

"Love?" he asked, "who said anything about _love_? Love's a strong word, Granger, and I don't use it lightly."

I felt embarrassed.

"No matter," he pressed on, "I quite like Granger. I think it suits you."

"And impossible git seems to suit you," I scoffed.

"Okay, okay," he said slowly. "I do like you, Hermione, honestly. But you're right… everyone makes it seem wrong. Everyone says we should hate each other."

"So it's a secret, then?" I asked, not liking the idea. "All of this… all of _this_… has to be our secret?"

"I suppose," he said. "Though people will find out eventually, you know."

"I know," I said, not wanting to think about that day. I wanted to pretend that liking Draco was acceptable… that it wasn't wrong.

----

The smoke from the fires rivaled that of The Blaze's. But this smoke was rising from chimneys, not the ground. We'd reached the muggle town, and I was shocked that by only one day's worth of traveling, we'd found civilization.

We went up to the first house on the left and knocked three times, as Blaise and Ben instructed.

"Hello, welcome!" a friendly woman opened the door. "Come in, come in!"

Draco and I looked at each other and then went inside.

"You must be hungry," she said, "help yourselves."

I noticed she was an older woman… maybe 40 or so…. but she seemed very young and energetic. Her name was Betty, she told us.

We ate the bread she had on the table shamelessly. We'd walked for an entire day, not stopping to rest or eat. "Thank you," I said, wiping the crumbs from my skirt.

"I've prepared the boxes for you," she said. "We can load them now and you can stay for a while to get your strength up."

After we loaded the boxes onto the cart and secured them down, Betty invited us back into her home.

"So, how's the war going?" she asked over tea.

Draco and I exchanged glances. We didn't know what she knew, exactly, so we didn't want to tell her too much.

"Oh, I see," she said, putting her teacup on its saucer with a small _clink_. "You don't think I know all about what you're going through, do you?"

"Well, we're just not sure what you've been told…" Draco said.

"I know you're magical people," she said, surprising us both.

"Blaise said…" I started.

"That Zabini!" she exclaimed. "He wants things to be quick and useful… no time should be wasted talking with Betty!"

"So you… you know about everything…" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm a witch myself, you know," she said with a smile.

"Oh?" Draco and I asked at the same time.

"That's right… I ran away, too," she admitted. "Only I didn't want to live in the woods like some creature. I decided to move to the rural muggle towns… to be one of them… and no one's found me since."

"When did you run away?" I asked.

"When I was around your age. Seventeen, in fact. I ran with, well, the only one who's still alive is Ben. He was my boyfriend," she said, looking off into the distance. "And I thought we'd have a wonderful life together out in this new camp we were going to build. But Ben insisted that we make things from scratch… the whole journey from Hogwarts was bad enough, but then he had to go and expect us to build things! So I ran away and found this place. I was shocked at how close it was to The Blaze, so I went back and told them all that I was going to rent a room until I could afford a place of my own. It took me five years before I could even pay the rent in full. And it took another five—and a promotion—before I could get my own home. And all the while, I was getting things for The Blaze to use. I was delivering it every so often, but we came up with the current system instead."

We were both shocked. "Why keep all of this a secret?" I asked.

"I don't know…" she said. "There's no good reason, I suppose."

"Well, we probably should get back," I said.

"I suppose," she said, sounding a little sad to see us go. "Next trip will be for the animals. Don't volunteer to go."

"Animals?" Draco asked.

"One pregnant cow, three hens, one rooster, and a goat," she said.

"Oh my," I said, realizing where our eggs, milk, and cheese came from. And also our meat.

"Well let's get back," Draco said. "We've got a day's trip ahead of us."

**Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! Next Chapter Spoiler: It's got romance in it… and anger… and surprises. This story is coming to a close, actually… I know it seems almost plot-less, but trust me, the finale is where a lot of new things come in to play. Spoiler for that coming soon.**


	22. An Ominous Warning

**An Ominous Warning**

**Ron Weasley**

They came back and it was obvious something between them had changed. I wasn't sure what it was, but they were both smiling, despite the fact that they were alone together and didn't sleep for two days. It was slightly unnerving to see Hermione acting civil toward Malfoy, but it wasn't something that started overnight.

Ever since we all began to head toward The Blaze, I noticed the subtle changes between them. Malfoy only called Hermione Mudblood when she _really_ pissed him off. Later on, he stopped calling her that altogether. She stopped insulting him every five seconds, and he did likewise. It wasn't something that happened with the blink of an eye, but any moron could notice it.

The only morons who didn't notice it were the two of them. Hermione insisted that there wasn't anything going on between them. At first, I considered it a lie… but as time past, I realized she _didn't_ know that there was something there. Malfoy seemed just as clueless as Hermione.

They brought the boxes into the main cabin and went through it. There was a new set of dishes, more silverware, some clothes, blankets, seeds, and containers. I'm sure there were more things, too, but I was too lazy to look through the whole box.

"'Moine, can I talk to you?" I asked her slowly.

"Sure," she smiled, walking with me into my cabin. "What's up?" she asked once we were behind closed doors.

"How's Malfoy?" I blurted stupidly, knowing it wasn't the thing I intended on saying.

"He's fine… I think," she said slowly. "Why are you asking?"

"Look," I sighed. "Hermione, I know you two really care about each other."

"What?" she asked with disbelief. "I mean… I don't _hate_ him anymore… but _care_ for? No! I don't!"

"Hermione," I said patiently. "I can see it when I look at him! I can see the way he looks at you, too."

She stared at me. "Ron," she said slowly. "I really have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know what—"

"You really don't see it?" I asked with disbelief. "Hermione, it's really obvious to everyone but you!"

She didn't say anything. She just got up off the bed, left me alone in the cabin, and wandered back into hers.

----

"There's something out there," Marianna said suddenly.

"What?" I asked, not sure what to say. I knew Marianna was a total basket case—haunted by weird visions, unable to completely control her magic abilities… the works. She hardly ever spoke… but she listened and seemed to be capable of emotion and response—she just chose to keep to herself.

"Out there," she said, nodding ominously into the woods. "There's something and it's coming."

Shivers went down my spine. I wasn't sure what to say, do, or think.

"Oh, please," Malfoy scoffed. "Marianna's visions are prone to not coming true. Remember last year when she thought the Chamber of Secrets was going to open _again_, even though we all told her it was impossible?"

At this, Marianna looked completely outraged. "_You_!" she hissed dangerously. "_You_ shouldn't insult what you don't understand! Besides, Draco Malfoy, it's coming for _you_."

"Okay, Marianna, can you stop creeping us all out for ten seconds, thanks," Granger muttered.

"It's coming for him!" she ranted wildly.

"Calm down!" Blaise said, appearing out of no where. "Nothing's coming, Mary, it's okay."

We all sat around the campfire, unsure of what to think.

I saw Malfoy glance nervously out into the woods several times.

"What is it, Mary?" he asked carefully after a long silence.

She smiled a crooked smile and then said, "It's someone familiar. Someone who isn't what you thought."

We all wondered what that meant… or if we should believe it at all. Not too long later, we all went to sleep, unaware of what was _really_ out there. Unaware of the attack that would turn The Blaze into ruin the very next day…

----

I turned over, aware that it was bright out, but unwilling to wake up. I could smell the burning fires already, so I knew it was almost time for breakfast.

And then I heard the screams. I didn't know what was going on. I turned to see Malfoy in the corner of the room, digging through his crate. "Damn it!" he kept cursing, over and over again.

Then he ran out of the room, and I watched him go into Hermione and Ginny's cabin. I followed quickly. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"Where the hell is your wand?" Malfoy asked, shoving Hermione awake. "Where is it?"

"It's right here," she groaned, hardly awake enough to think straight.

"What's going on?" I repeated.

"Where?" Malfoy asked again, ransacking Hermione's crate.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked again. A million thoughts were running through my mind. Why was the smell of smoke so strong? Why was there screaming outside? I was too afraid to go look.

"There's no wand here, Hermione!" Malfoy said with aggravation. I hardly noticed he used her name. I only noticed that Ginny was gone.

"Where's my sister?" I asked, panicked.

No one answered me, so I ran out of the cabin blindly, noticing for the first time the turmoil everything was in. "Ginny!" yelled, trying to look past the thick smoke. All the buildings I saw were on fire.

Our main cabin was spewing fire from the roof. I wondered whether this was a kitchen accident gone terribly wrong.

"Ron!" Ginny ran into my arms. "Ron!"

She was sobbing hysterically. "What happened?" I asked, still unsure what was going on.

"Ron," she choked. "Marianna's visions came true."

It wasn't a kitchen fire, I realized. My thoughts were confirmed when I saw something that wasn't possible—Lucius Malfoy standing in the center of the campfire site, smiling evilly, looking around for Draco.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"I don't know…" Ginny said through her tears. "We have to warn Draco!"

And so we ran in the direction of their cabin, disbelieving what we saw, not wanting to believe that The Blaze was on fire, and completely afraid.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me a week and I'm sorry it wasn't very long. But it was eventful, important, and basically sets the stage for the finale. I've got about 2-4 chapters left… though it might be even more. We'll see what happens. I'm sorry I spelled Voldemort's name wrong the entire story… and the wand thing doesn't figure out. Draco used _his_ wand to kill his father. NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: But why's he still alive? And, obviously, he's mad. Draco and Hermione finally admit their love, and Claire finally gets out of the picture. Review, please!**


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